Will To Live
by bluegemi
Summary: she was murdered three years ago while trying to save the innocent. Now the kenshin-gumi are on a mission save japan but she's not really dead, just completely different with no memories of her past. Help, writer's block! any suggestions are helpful.
1. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ruruoni Kenshin or any of the Rurouni Kenshin characters and I never will.  
  
Author's notes: This is my first story and I hope it's original. It's written from multiple character P.O.V. R&R if you feel like it 'cause I don't mind that much if you don't. "speech" 'thoughts'  
  
Will To Live Chapter 1  
  
The sun had set long ago but the Kamiya dojo was all but still. A young man watched a rooster and a fox argue over nothing while steadily consuming several bottles of sake on the dojo porch. Yahiko continued to watch Sano and Megumi bicker, a smile tugging on his lips but then his eyes wandered over to the man with the flaming red hair and cross shaped scar. His bokken stop swinging and his smile dropped as he looked at Kenshin, or what used to be Kenshin.  
Kenshin wasn't participating in the argument, nor was he aware of it. His focus was instead on the indigo ribbon clutched in his hand. Although he was very good at hiding his emotions, sorrow was clearly written over his delicate features. He stared at the ribbon then slowly brought it close to his face and inhaled deeply. 'It still smells like her, after nearly three years it still smells like jasmine.' He tucked the ribbon back in it's secret, safe spot in his gi. He became aware of Yahiko staring at him but decided to avoid the boy's gaze, too afraid to see his own pain mirrored in his eyes. The pain of losing someone you love.  
The dojo seemed much more relaxed and content than it's been in years but Yahiko as well as everyone else could see through the façade being put up. Yahiko could sense the sorrow lingering in the air. 'Three years, it'll be three years since it happened.' He looked at Sano and Megumi again and silently thanked them. They had no reason to fight and clearly nothing to fight about, so they mutely agreed to dispute when they were going to have their first child and who gets to name it. 'Thank you,' he thought 'for trying to get our minds and hearts off the anniversary.' He glanced at Kenshin, 'though nothing can be done to help him.' He sighed sadly and continued to practice with his bokken.  
"Well, if you excuse me, I'll be going to bed know." Kenshin stood up, brushed off his hakama and continue to speak. "Sano, Megumi, will you be here for breakfast tomorrow?"  
"Of course we will Ken-san." Although Megumi was happily married to Sano she still preferred to her pet name for Kenshin instead of his real one.  
"Course we will. I'm not about to start skipping out on free meals." Sano silently added 'and I'm not about to leave you alone, especially when it's so close to the day that it happened.'  
"Then I'll see you in the morning. Yahiko, I'll trust you to lock the dojo gate after Sano and Megumi leave. Goodnight." Without so much as a backward glance, Kenshin retired to his room.  
Yahiko stared at his retreating form until it disappeared completely from sight. Then without any warning he threw his bokken to the ground and plopped himself next to Sano on the porch. Megumi and Sano had stopped drinking to watch Yahiko brood with his arms folded tightly across his chest. All three let out a collective sigh and for several minutes everything was quiet and still. After what seemed like an eternity Sano finally broke the silence.  
"So." he started out slowly trying to find the right words but then gave up and said what was all on their minds. "Kenshin hasn't spoken of her has he." It wasn't a question, it was a fact.  
"No."  
"Have you talked about her?"  
"No."  
"Are you planning on saying more that no?"  
"Yeah I guess so." Sano was losing his patience. He was a millisecond away from beating Yahiko into speaking what was on his mind when Megumi intervened. "Well oh great one, when you deem us worthy enough, please speak your wisdom to enlighten our simple minds." Her words dripped with sarcasm as she glared at Yahiko. "You don't have to be so stupid about this. If you have something on your mind then just say it instead of pissing us off with your retarded fucking answers."  
"I just don't feel like talking right now."  
Megumi tried a different approach. "Listen Yahiko, you know we're not related by blood but we're all family here. If you have something to say, chances are Sano or I feel the same way." She placed her hand on his shoulder.  
"Such sensitivity from a fox," Sano blew Megumi a kiss, "why can't you be that gentle with me?" He grinned playfully.  
"Shut up baka. I'm not in the mood for playing your silly little games." She replied curtly before turning your attention back to Yahiko. "Has Ken-san even said her name?"  
"No. He completely avoids the subject. Besides he doesn't talk much nowadays either, but."  
"But what?"  
"I can tell he's thinking about her all the time. Like when he's holding onto her ribbon or when he stops by her room everyday. Lately I've noticed Kenshin ruining his food on purpose just so his meals will taste like she cooked them."  
This time Sano spoke. "What do mean? I've never tasted bad food coming from Kenshin."  
"He cooks our food perfect but he'll burn his or add too much salt or something. He doesn't know that I know that he sabotages his food."  
"So he's not getting better."  
"No." He sighed and dropped his head down. "I just wanted him to get better so badly."  
"Wait a minute Yahiko." Sano took a deep breath and started. "What do you mean by wanted him to get better?"  
"I think it's obvious that the Kenshin we knew is dead. He died when she died and there's no fucking way we can bring him back now." He suddenly became very angry. "I don't know who the fuck that is in there," he gestured towards the dojo, "but that's not our Kenshin!"  
"Listen, you just have to know or at least understand what Kenshin's going through." Sano's normally gruff voice was laced with patience and understanding. It was very clear that he had greatly matured over the rears.  
"I know what he's going through! She didn't just leave him she left me too!" Tears sprang to his eyes but he refused to allow them to fall. Instead he buried his face in his hands and began to speak again. "I know it hurts but it's been three years. Almost three years. I just fucking wished he would be the person that he used to be, is that so much to ask? He's just a shadow. He's fucking pathetic." He lifted his head, took a deep breath. "I hate him. I hate him. I hate him." His voice grew stronger and louder as he continued to chant. "I hate him. I hate him. I HATE HIM. I HA-" Megumi hand, instead on Sano's fist, struck Yahiko hard in the face. Small beads of blood made trials down Yahiko's cheek where her fingernails had broken the skin. He stared at her, shock in his eyes and she just stared back with disappointment in hers.  
"I'm so fucking angry with you Yahiko." Her words were cold, lacking emotion and only making Yahiko feel worse about what he had said. "How can you even think about saying something that horrible? You're a foolish, ignorant little boy. Before you start getting angry with Ken-san why don't you take a look at yourself? You say that Ken-san died, that he's gone but can you honestly look me straight in the eye and say that a part of you didn't die when she did? Look at you, look at us." She glanced at Sano to make sure he was paying attention. "We want so much for Ken-san to speak about her but we carefully the subject ourselves. Throughout this entire conversation we haven't even said her name. Not once! We being hypocrites, expecting Ken-san to talk about it when we won't do it ourselves. But Yahiko, I'm especially angry with you. Saying those horrible things. You shame yourself." She stood up and looked at Sano. "I think it's time we go home now." Then she began to walk to the exit. Sano, not wanting to face her wrath, bid a shocked Yahiko goodnight and ran ahead of her. Before she reached the gate she turned around to face Yahiko. "You know if you really want him to talk about it then you're going to have to start the conversation. Goodnight Yahiko-chan."  
"Chan?! Don't call me chan!" His body was shaking and his fists were clenched, he screamed after her but she ignored his screams.  
"You act like a child," she began to leave again, "so you'll be treated like a child. Goodnight Yahiko-chan." She shut the dojo gate.  
"Don't call me chan." He whispered. He stood by himself until a cold wind hit his face and he was suddenly reminded to go to sleep. He looked at the mess Sano and Megumi had forgot to clean up and decided to clean it in the morning. He picked up his forgotten bokken, looked surprised to see the blood on it. Then he found the source of the blood on his palms. He could see where his finger nails had dug in, where they had broken the flesh. Another cold gust blew by, forcing Yahiko to quicken his pace. Yahiko stared at his ceiling that night, desperately trying to fall asleep. He felt relieved when his eyelids became heavy enough to drop. However, unknown to him, his night would be plagued by memories of the past. 


	2. the first memories

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the Rurouni Kenshin characters and I never will.  
  
Author's notes: This is the second chapter in my first Rurouni Kenshin story. This chapter will be taking place in Yahiko's P.O.V. R&R if you want because I don't care too much if you don't. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy! "speech" 'thoughts'  
  
Last Chapter:  
Yahiko stared at his ceiling that night, desperately trying to fall asleep. He felt relieved when his eyelids became heavy enough to drop. However, unknown to him, his night would be plagued by memories of the past.  
  
Will To Live  
  
With sweat dripping off his face, Yahiko continue to sprint down the halls of the inn bellowing out her name. "KAORU!!!! KAORU!!!!" He stopped at another room, threw open the door and allowed his eyes to dart through the room looking for any people who had not yet evacuated the inn. When he saw no one he turned around to search the other rooms down the hall. He reached the room closest to the stairs and knew immediately that someone was inside. His right hand tighten on his bokken as his left tighten on the katana he was carrying. He threw his bokken in the air, slid open the door, caught his bokken and rushed into the room as he had done so many times before. Yahiko searched the room and found what he was looking for.  
A mousy looking man was desperately shoving all of his belongings into a sack and several other items that belonged to the inn.  
"What the hell are you doing!?" Yahiko was fed up. Kaoru had ordered him to evacuate the inn of all of the people, forcibly if necessary, and this mousy little bastard had the nerve to run back to the room even after Yahiko had ordered him to leave.  
"I paid good money for this room and just because some kid with a katana orders me to leave doesn't mean I'm leavin' without my shit!" His nasally little voice only served to anger Yahiko more.  
"You're a stupid fucking moron." Yahiko rushed the man, slammed him with his shoulder and sent the little prick flying across the floor. "I sure as hell didn't run to all the rooms twice only to be stopped by some asshole like you!" He was feeling ready to leave the man in the room to let the men who were attacking the inn deal with him but then he closed his eyes and remembered what Kaoru had told him.  
  
Yahiko had dragged himself into his room at the inn and collapsed onto his futon. His chest was heaving, his muscles felt like they were on fire and he couldn't remember when his body ached so much but he had never felt so proud before. After an intense training session with Kaoru, they had headed into the city of Osaka where Kenshin had suggested they vacation. While they were at the market a couple of thugs had decided to terrorize a group of young women. Kaoru had stepped down and allowed Yahiko to fight them on his own, defeating them with relative ease. He swelled with pride just remembering the congratulations and thanks given to him by the people who had seen him fight. Then Kaoru congratulated him and even admitted that he was becoming a very powerful young man and that she was proud of how strong he's become. 'Kaoru even said that I'm getting really strong! If I keep training like this I'll be as strong as Kenshin!' He was giddy and began to roll around the floor with joy, not noticing Kaoru run into his room.  
"Yahiko, get up!" Yahiko jumped up, face flushed with embarrassment, and immediately began explaining his actions to Kaoru. "See, I, uh.. I dropped something and was, uhhhh, looking for.Kaoru what the hell happened to you?" He stopped his talking to fully take in Kaoru's appearance. She was still clad in her training attire; white gi, blue hakama, wooden sword but her gi was torn at the shoulder and there was a large horizontal slash underneath her right eye.  
"Yahiko, grab your bokken and come here!" He hurried to follow her orders, tripping over his unkempt futon during the process. He snatched his bokken and hurried to stand up but strong hands were already half dragging him to the dark corner near the wall next to the door. He looked up, surprised to see Kaoru dragging him but kept his mouth as she was obviously keeping quite for some reason. Blood from her wound dripped down onto Yahiko's face.  
"Kaoru..." he whispered but she placed her fingers over his mouth to silence him. He finally saw what she was so quite about.  
A large man in black threw open the door, an unsheathed katana twirling in his massive hand. He was obviously stupid and couldn't sense ki because he didn't spot them huddled in their pathetic hiding place. Kaoru stood up and attacked him from behind. Kaoru skill clearly outmatched her enemy yet she remained wary during the fight. The man swung his sword relentlessly like a lumberjack. Kaoru dodged attack after attack, never blocking with her wooded sword. 'Why doesn't she beat him already?!' Yahiko screamed in his head. Then it hit him. He looked down at his bokken. 'Her sword is made of wood; it's no match for a katana. If her sword is destroyed she's done for.' Kaoru ducked under a swing aimed for her head, saw her opening and went for it. She jabbed her sword into his gut and when he doubled over with pain she disappeared and reappeared behind him, smashing her sword against the back of his enormous head. He collapsed onto the floor with a loud thump.  
Yahiko approached slowly, then poked the man with his bokken just to be sure he was knocked out. "Kaoru, what the hell is going on!? Where'd you get that?" He pointed to her injury, "and who the hell is this!?" She didn't answer him, instead she pried the katana out of the unconscious mans fingers. She studied the hilt of the sword before flipping in over so that she was holding the blade. "Here." She moved the hilt of the sword so that it was directly in front of him. "What do you want me to do with this?" He took the sword and nearly dropped it; the weight took him off guard. "Please listen to me and just do what I say." She took a deep breath, "I need you to run to all the rooms in the inn and just get everybody the hell out understand."  
He nodded slowly, confusion written all over his face. "But why? What's going on?"  
Kaoru gestured to the man on the ground then to the sword in Yahiko's hand. "What the hell do you think is going on? Don't be stupid, use your head." Yahiko thought it over quickly, "the inn's being attacked isn't it?" She looked at the man on the ground, "obviously." She spoke with venom in her voice but her demeanor changed when she faced Yahiko. "He's not the only one you know. There are a lot of enemies in the inn. I know because I fought a few on my way over here." She brushed her torn gi with her hand to show her point. "There's also a lot of innocent people in here also, that's why I need you to evacuate the inn while I." Her voice trailed off "While you what?" He already knew what was coming, he could tell by her voice. Her voice had never been that way, it was the voice of someone who knew their inevitable fate, who was willing to face it and it frightened him. "While I go and fight them." "You mean use yourself as bait while everyone else escapes!" Kaoru looked away, avoiding Yahiko's eyes. "I won't leave you by yourself; I'll fight them with you! I'm strong enough and you can't beat all these people by yourself!" He didn't want to leave her alone to face so much danger. She was his sensei, his sister and his friend. He would do everything in his power to assure her safety and happiness. "No." She spoke firmly, trying to settle the matter. "I already told you what you have to do." "But I have to help you, I have to protect you!" "Think about the people of the inn who need your protection more that I do. Remember earlier today when you beat up those thugs, I told you that the Kamiyo Kashin Ryuu is." "Used to protect the weak, the people truly in need of protection." He finished her sentence for her. He understood what he had to do, although he was still unsure about leaving Kaoru by herself. "All right, I'll go but what if they don't listen to me?" "If that happens show them the mark on the hilt of that sword." He looked at the hilt to see that on it was carved a picture of a man with a sword through his chest being engulfed by flames. He had also noticed that the same picture was on the right arm of the unconscious man on the floor. "That sword belongs to a terrorist group; the Jigoku Hi clan. That'll probably get them going considering that clan is becoming pretty well known for its ruthlessness. Then if that doesn't work, you're gonna have to remove them by force." "Got'cha." Then it hit him. "Where the hell are Kenshin and Sano?" "Probably somewhere in the city, but they can't help us now anyway." "Why the hell not?" 'I can go and get them' he thought 'then they can beat the crap out these guys. No sweat!' "They can't help because we don't know where the hell they are and even if we do find them imagine how many people these guys," she kicked the man on the floor "would have killed! We just don't have the time, got it?" Yahiko nodded in agreement. "Besides Yahiko," she put her hand on his shoulder and inhaled deeply, "we can't rely on Kenshin forever. This time we have to rely on our own strength. This time we have to be the heroes." Yahiko was pumped up and already began to run out of the room when Kaoru grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. "Kaoru, what's wrong?" She didn't answer; instead she knelt down and wrapped Yahiko in a loving embrace. His eyes widened in surprise but his arms snaked around her back to return the hug. "Yahiko," she said while her arms tighten around him snuggly, "if worse comes to worse then please get yourself out." She broke the embrace to look him straight in the eyes. "After all, someone has to be here to teach the Kamiya Kashin Ryuu." She kissed him softly on the forehead then turned and ran out of the room. Yahiko was too surprised too see her leave but when he did catch on he too followed her example and ran out of the room to complete his mission.  
  
Yahiko was suddenly snapped out of his memories when the mousy little man ran by him, shoving him with his arm as he went. Yahiko cursed himself for getting lost in his memories but was silently relieved that the mousy moron finally had enough brains to leave the inn. He ran out of the room and up the stairs to the next level of the inn, relieved to find that the people had heeded his warnings and promptly left. He headed up another flight of stairs to the very last floor. After turning the corner he stopped to catch his breath. He wiped the sweat off his brow and away from his eyes. When he finally took in his surroundings, he felt the need to catch his breath again. Scattered throughout the hallway were the insensible bodies of half a dozen men, all wearing the black uniform of the Jigoku Hi clan. Many of the comatose faces were twisted in horrid expressions of pain, humiliation and above all defeat. From the slight conscious, men moans and groans of pain, although barely audible, could be heard. Although they were the enemy, Yahiko couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic. On their faces fresh bruises were forming and old blood from broken noses and other flesh wounds were drying to their faces in little patches of brownish red. Limbs were broken and joints could bend the wrong way but what really drew Yahiko's attention was the nauseating metallic smell of fresh blood, a lot of fresh blood. He began to systematically check the room for blood and the bodies of the men for any large flesh wounds. Although in the back of his mind he knew the truth. 'Face it; Kaoru kicked these guys ass using her wooden sword. There's no way the wooden sword could've created the wound you're looking for. It's pretty obvious that the blood you smell belongs to.' "Shut up!" Yahiko told himself aloud. He didn't want to think that the blood belonged to Kaoru but his worst fears were confirmed when he found no wounds on the men and a bloody sword forgotten by the men. 'Please let her be okay. Please be okay Kaoru.' A man's terrified scream vibrated up the stairs, through the hall and into Yahiko's ears. "Someone, please fucking help me!!! Please!!" Yahiko began to run down the stairs to investigate the matter but stopped midway when he saw that at the end of the hall the mousy man was running like a bat out of hell. His face was deathly white, snot and tears were streaming uncontrollable down his face and the sack of items that he was carrying was gone. In fact the arm that was carrying the sack was missing too. "Oh god, someone please help me!!" He collapsed on the floor; unsuppressed sobs wracked his body while he used his only arm to cradle his bloody stump. He suddenly began scuttling away towards the stairs as fast as his mangled body would allow all the while begging people who, because of Yahiko's position on the stairs, couldn't see. "Please, I beg you, spare my life! I'm a rich man, I'll pay you anything you want just spare me! Please, please, please spare my life!" An evil voice spoke, "what do you think boys?" The same voice spoke again after a few seconds, "yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking." Then he chuckled and snapped his fingers. Before Yahiko could register what has happening, the mousy man had been thrown against the wall by two other men, clan in the same black uniform as the man who attacked Kaoru. A third man approached slowly, his katana was already unsheathed, glimmering menacingly. "So.you thought you could beg for mercy, huh?" It was the same voice that spoke earlier. "Well sorry to disappoint ya, but were not exactly fond of mercy, especially coming from a filthy liar like yourself." He spat on his face then chuckled and another man followed his example. Yahiko could tell that this man was giving the other two the orders. "Please no.I never lied to you, I swear. Please spare-"He was struck hard in the face by the leader who looked like he wanted nothing more than to disembowel the man and his family just so he could dance on their graves. "Shut up!" he roared then struck him repeatedly. "I did not give you permission to speak you stupid sack of shit!" Yahiko was in turmoil. 'What do I do!? If I try to help this guy they'll kill both of us and I'll never be able to find Kaoru. If I don't this man is going to be tortured to death and I'll I can do is watch. Kaoru told me to get out if worse comes to worse and clearly' he watched the leader beat what was left of the mans face with his fist, 'worse came to worse. But I was also told to protect the weak. Do I help even if that means sacrificing myself, and should I sacrifice myself for this? This man is dead whether I help him or not but I can't just sit by and do nothing while they torture him! What do I do?' He watched as the men took turns in beating the mousy man until he was an inch away from death. 'What do I do!?' The men pulled a white powdery substance and spread it over the man's stump. 'What do I do!?' The stump began to blister and simmer as the exposed flesh was being cooked by the white substance. 'What do I do!?' The man clutched his stump and rolled around the floor, excruciating pain shook his body. "OH PLEASE NO!!! MAKE THE BURNING STOP!!! PLEASE HELP ME!! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!" The three men watched the mousy man roll around in a pool of his own blood, hysterical with laughter. 'What do I do!?' They propped the mousy man up again and the leader smashed his fist into the man's stomach. "Please stop." He whimpered, "I never lied to you, I swear. Please, I beg you.stop." The man finished his pathetic plea; it was clear in his voice that he had given up hope. The leader was boring of his game. He lifted the mans head so that his sword could cut easily across his throat. 'What do I do!?' Yahiko watched as they prepped the man for his execution. 'I don't know what I can do,' he thought strongly, 'but I know I can't just sit here and do nothing!' "Now die!" The man raised his katana and was seconds away from decapitating the poor man. "STOP!" Yahiko yelled at the top of his lungs. The leader lowered his sword and all four of the men stared at him, surprised to see someone else in the inn. The leader nodded toward Yahiko and the chase began. The other two men sprinted up the stairs after him. 'Shit, shit shit! Now what the hell am I supposed to do!' He ran through the hall with the unconscious men with something grabbed his ankle. Yahiko fell to the ground, his upper body splashing in the pool of blood he had smelt earlier. The blood, Kaoru's blood, soaked his clothes and sprayed him in the face, some getting in his mouth. He recovered from this shock and turned around to see what had grabbed him. There at his feet was one of the men who had woken up. He was clawing at Yahiko's leg only half aware of what he was doing. Yahiko used his other foot and smashed the man repeatedly in the face, tearing his ears, knocking out teeth and breaking his nose with a sickening crunch. He turned around to run but it was too late, the two men had already caught him and had thrown him across the hall. He was tired of running; he knew he probably wouldn't get out of here alive and he briefly contemplated not getting up off the floor. His ear rested on the floor as the two men approached him. He could hear the man begging for his life below, the leader laughter and then he heard the man's pleas cut short as a blade sliced through muscle and skin. He could hear the body hit the floor; he heard the leader's insane laughter and that made his blood boil. 'Even if I don't survive, I can't just let that guy get away with murder. I'll stop that bastard, even if it costs me my life.' "So.you're the kid that thought he wanted to be a hero huh?" The leader snapped his fingers and Yahiko was pulled roughly to his feet by the other two. Yahiko looked at the leader, saw that his katana was sheathed and as his side, saw that in each hand he held a bodiless head. He saw the head of the mousy man, his eyes which seconds ago were livid with fear now strangely glazed over. Then he saw the second head. I head that he didn't notice before. The leader held the head of the young woman by her long raven hair.  
  
Authors notes: This chapter was longer than the first. The next chapter will continue exactly where this one stopped. I was going to make this and the next chapter connected but I got tired of typing so you'll just have to settle for two separate chapters. 


	3. hero

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the Rurouni Kenshin characters and I never will.  
  
Authors Notes: This is the third chapter of my first story. This chapter is written in Yahiko's P.O.V. R&R if you want to, because I appreciate the comments. "speech" 'thoughts' Sorry for waiting so long to update.  
  
Last Chapter:  
"So.you're the kid that thought he wanted to be a hero huh?" The leader snapped his fingers and Yahiko was pulled roughly to his feet by the other two. Yahiko looked at the leader, saw that his katana was sheathed and at his side, saw that in each hand he held a bodiless head. He saw the head of the mousy man, his eyes which seconds ago were livid with fear were now strangely glazed over. Then he saw the second head, a head he didn't notice before. The leader held the head of a young woman by her long raven hair  
  
Chapter Three  
Yahiko stared at the head, at the face he painfully recognized, and began to shake with anger. 'You bastard, how could you do that to her!?' Yahiko's anger didn't go unnoticed by the leader. The leader smirked evilly, he was gonna have some fun with this kid.  
"So little boy," the leader moved closer to Yahiko and brought the head horribly close to Yahiko's face, "do you like my new trophy?" He began to examine the head with a look of pride on his face. "Quite a beauty" he looked back at Yahiko, then he threw the mousy mans head across the room at the wall. What was left of the head slammed against the wall, blood splattered and streaked the wall. The head hit the ground, brain matter spewing out of a large crack in the skull. One of men began to chuckle as if the defilement of a dead mans head was absolutely hilarious while the man with the stony face remained impassive. Yahiko looked at each of the men, immediately sizing them up and giving them nicknames to identify them by. He looked at the laughing man 'there's "Chuckles" who seems to think everything is funny. He doesn't seem to be much of a threat.' He glanced at the second man, 'there's "Stony" who doesn't seem to have emotions. He might be a problem but this guy,' he glanced at the leader, 'he's a big problem. "Leader" is the one I have to worry about.' He suddenly stopped thinking about his captures when his blood began to boil. Leader struck him in the face, the taste of metallic blood began to fill his mouth as the leader placed the woman's head in front of his face again.  
"Kid, I asked you a question." Leader's voice was dark and low, dangerously low. "I don't like to repeat myself so I'll ask you one more time," he nodded at the Chuckles and Stony who released their vice like grip on his arms, "I asked you what do you think of my trophy?" Leader tossed the head at Yahiko who, instinctively, caught it. He stared at the head, too horrified and appalled to drop it. The head belonged to a young woman staying at the inn whom Yahiko and Kaoru had befriended when they protected her from a couple of thugs. She was a kind hearted woman, soft spoken and polite and not much older that Kaoru. She had long raven hair, dark eyes, a plump round face and an expanding stomach as she was several months pregnant with her first child. Yahiko was shaking with murderous rage, 'these fucking bastards are gonna fucking die!! I'm gonna kill them for what they did to her, she was so loving and innocent and they fucking slaughtered her!! I'll kill them, they're gonna fucking die,' he thought with grim determination as he continued to examine the head. He held the woman's head, Sakura's head, in trembling hands. Sakura's face was covered in dried blood and large dark bruises. The lips were cracked and torn. The nose, swollen and completely broken, looked like a novelty hanging off her once beautiful face, but her eyes were the worst of all. The left eyes was completely mutilated, a chopstick had been shoved inside of her eye and broken off as Yahiko could still see part of the utensil lodged into her pupil. The eyelid around her left eye seemed to be completely torn, showing Yahiko just how large a human eye really is. The right eye wasn't torn apart like the left; instead it showed Yahiko the emotions she felt before she exhaled her last breath. In the eye he could see the sadness, repulsion, anger, hatred, but most of all the pure absolute horror of what was happening. Those emotions seemed to be frozen in time inside of her glazed, lifeless eye. Tears flowed freely down his face, dropping onto Sakura's lips and cheek. Chuckles noticed Yahiko's reaction first and promptly began to giggle wildly. Stony's face remained detached but his eyes shone with satisfaction and happiness at Yahiko's suffering.  
"So the little baby is scared of my trophy." Leader snatched the head out of Yahiko's grasp, and spoke again in a mocking tone, "is the little baby scared?" He patted Yahiko's head like a dog, "I didn't want to scare the little baby but it seems he's too little to handle such a beautiful prize like this without crying like a little girl." The leader turned his attention to the other men, completely ignoring Yahiko's presence. "She was an awful good prize if I do say so myself." Yahiko noticed the emphasis he placed on his words and glanced up to see Leader make pelvic thrusts and he lost it.  
"So it wasn't enough to torture and murder a pregnant woman, you had to rape her also!!" Yahiko's sudden outburst had clearly surprised the men. "You fucking assholes! I'll fucking kill you! You sick sacks of shit gang rape a pregnant woman?! I guess that's the only way you get pussy you pathetic assholes. I swear I'll kill you so you three can rot in fucking hell! I swear-" Yahiko finished when a fist sunk deep into his stomach sending him to the floor gasping for air. Leader stood menacingly over him, his teeth were bared, and his eyes glowed with a thirst for blood that couldn't be satisfied. He placed a heavy foot over Yahiko's groin, his eyes daring Yahiko to speak again. "Kids shouldn't interrupt adults during important conversations," his foot pressed down slightly, "and it's very rude for kids to call us bad names, it's just not nice." His voice dripped with venom as his foot pressed down more. Yahiko body went rigid as waves of pain went through his body. Leader turned his attention back to the others while his foot continued to press down. "So where were we before I was so rudely interrupted? Oh yeah, we were talking about my little trophy weren't we?"  
"Sure was," Chuckles answered stupidly, "we were talking about how good she was."  
"Oh yeah, she was pretty delicious but I just wish that she put up a little more of a fight. I don't like it when my prey doesn't fight more, you know? I like a challenge." He licked his lips as he thought of how good it felt to be forcibly inside of her, to have that much power over another person.  
"I liked her just the way she was." Chuckles began to make pelvic movements of his own, "I thought she was just perfect the way she was."  
Stony spoke this time, "I'm surprised you enjoyed it that much considering you chose to take your turn after she stopped breathing. Got a thing for necrophilia?" His voice was laced with dry humor that made Yahiko want to puke up his guts at the fact that these people enjoyed what they did so much.  
"So what if I like them quite and still? Unlike you two I don't like it when they struggle. I like it when they just lay there and let me do my thing, no complaining." He spoke defensively.  
"I don't think she was gonna complain, after all, you fucked her after her heart stopped beating."  
Chuckles was getting seriously angry while Stony made more cracks about his fetish. Leader had completely removed himself from the argument and spoke to Yahiko directly. "So kid, are you ready to apologize for being so rude to me earlier?"  
"Suck my dick!" Yahiko spat, defiance and hatred danced across his features. The leader shook his head slowly then suddenly threw much or his weight on the foot that was already pressed on Yahiko's groin. "You're not gonna have a dick if you keep talking shit to me you little bitch." Chuckles and Stony didn't seem to notice what was happening and instead continued with their argument. Yahiko was paralyzed with pain that only became worse when Leader removed his foot and used all of his strength to dig his knee into Yahiko's abdomen, successfully cutting off Yahiko's oxygen. The leader continue to dig into Yahiko's body, threatening to rupture his organs with his hulking form. "I should kill you for being such a little asshole, but I'm not sure if my friend here," he motioned his head to Chuckles, "would like to have a little fun with live prey. In addition to necrophilia, he also really enjoys sodomy; don't ask me why, it's not really my favorite thing in the world." Yahiko's mind was racing, 'I'm gonna fucking get murdered but before I go out some guy is gonna ass rape me?! Maybe I can still get out of this. I just have to figure out a way to get to the window. If I can reach the window I jump into the river below. I can make it pretty easy since it's been raining so hard the rivers bound to have overflowed a little. I can probably make it. I want to thank the guy who decided to build the inn so close to the river, not only is it a great tourist attraction but it just might save my life. But first I gotta find a way out of this before I suffocate to death.'  
Then suddenly by some divine miracle the distraction he needed came up. Chuckles, who grew tired of Stony's insults, had attacked him, prompting intervention from Leader. Leader picked himself off Yahiko and rushed over to stop his men from murdering each other. Yahiko saw his opportunity. He picked himself off the ground, snatched his bokken which he had dropped earlier and rushed to the window ready to jump to his freedom when a familiar voice stopped him in his tracks. Kaoru's scream had vibrated through the hall and Yahiko had abandoned all thoughts of escape as he dashed through the hall, with the men at his heels, to the largest room at the end of the hall where he knew he heard the scream come from. He threw the door open to see Kaoru in the middle of the room clutching two wounds, one was a slice across her side that Yahiko had assumed was made early because of the dried blood on her gi where the wound was. The second wound was another large slice, this time it was across her right arm and was oozing fresh blood. Yahiko saw that her wooden sword was in pieces at her feet.  
"Well, well, well, look what we have here." Yahiko looked to see where the voice had come from to see the man Kaoru was fighting. He was smaller than Leader, but the aura he sent off told Yahiko immediately that he was the true threat, that he was the actual leader of the men attacking the inn. He was only a little larger that Kenshin, with a long face, jet black hair and ice cold gray eyes.  
Kaoru had finally become aware of Yahiko's presence. "Yahiko! What are you doing here?! I told you to leave the inn!" She had trouble getting her words out before her knees buckled underneath her and she collapsed to the ground. "Kaoru!" Yahiko rushed to her side, heavily supporting her as she struggled to strand back up, "I couldn't leave Kaoru, not without you."  
She smiled sadly, "that's sweet but very stupid. I told you to get out," she pushed Yahiko away from her so she could stand on her own, "please Yahiko get out right now while you still have a chance." Her voice wasn't demanding, instead it pleaded with Yahiko.  
The true leader cleared his throat, catching Yahiko's and Kaoru's attention. "Well this is beautiful and all but I believe we have a fight to get to." He snapped his fingers and the three men who had been chasing Yahiko grabbed and dragged him to the corner of the room to watch Kaoru be slaughtered by the true leader. "Now that the children are taken care of," the true leader spoke to Kaoru, "can we finish what we started." It was a demand not a question. Kaoru nodded and positioned her hands to fend off the oncoming attacks.  
"What a minute!" Yahiko intervened, "Kaoru doesn't even have a weapon! Let me fight you instead!"  
The leader looked down at what used to be Kaoru's wooden sword, and then held out his hand to Stony who handed his katana. "Where are my manners?" He threw Kaoru the sword, who caught it with a quizzical look on her face. "It would be no fun to kill you if you didn't fight back." He said simply before he got into an offensive stance. Kaoru stared at the katana for a moment before tying it to her waist and taking up a defensive stance of her own. To Yahiko time seemed to stand still. He could do nothing but watch while his sensei would be murdered in this one sided fight.  
"Yahiko, when you get out of here, tell everyone that I'm very sorry for having to leave them, that I love them all. Tell them that they have to go on and take care or each other because I won't be there." Tears rolled down Yahiko's cheeks as he soaked in Kaoru's word, "I want you to make sure Kenshin understands especially. Tell Kenshin that he can't blame himself for all the bad things that happen okay? And please tell Kenshin that I love him and that I always will. Can you do that for me, Yahiko? Will you tell them for me?" "No I won't. I won't tell them, you will, because we'll get out of here together." Yahiko had barely managed to choke his words out but before Kaoru could answer laughter echoed in his ears. Chuckles was becoming hysterical with fits of laughter. "You'll both get out of here? Yeah right! Unless a half dead woman and a kid," he smacked Yahiko in the back of the head, "can overpower us, you're screwed. Don't wish for any miracles kid!" "That's enough!" The true leader's voice bellowed through the room. He faced Kaoru for another second or so before he charged. Yahiko saw what he was planning on doing. His sword was still sheathed but his hand gripped the hilt as did Kaoru. This fight was going to be determined by a contest of who could unsheathe their sword the fastest and Yahiko knew that Kaoru didn't stand a chance. The leader was seconds away from unsheathing his sword and decapitating Kaoru. On the other hand, Kaoru was perfectly still as if rooted to the floor. Yahiko had squeezed his eyes shut fore he already knew what was going to happen and he couldn't bear to watch. 'I can't do anything except watch her die! It's because I'm not strong enough, it's because I'm just a kid. If I were older, I'd be stronger and I could save her, I could protect her, but I just can't do that now because I'm just a kid. Only a child, I'm only Yahiko-Chan.' He opened his eyes slightly, unable to keep them shut anymore. He was determined to watch Kaoru fight to the end, to die with honor, but Kaoru had other plans. When the true leader unsheathed his sword and swung blindly at Kaoru's head with all the strength and speed he could conjure, Kaoru saw her opportunity and took it. She dove under the blade, past the leader, rolled to a squatting position and horse kicked the leader in the back of the knee as she picked herself up causing him to fall in a heap to the ground. Then, with speed no one dreamed she possessed, she charged towards a stunned Yahiko and three equally surprised men. Due to their surprise, the men's grip on Yahiko loosened considerably. He saw an opening and with a few well placed kicks in the men's groins, he was free. Kaoru reached the men, unsheathed her sword and attacked. Yahiko couldn't believe what he was seeing. Kaoru, who have vowed to protect with her sword, was killing three men right in front of his eyes. She had broken her vows, betrayed the Kamiya Kasshin, the sword that protects was now being used to kill. She decapitated Leader, stabbed Chuckles in the stomach then the heart. Then she turned her sight to the unarmed Stony. She raised the sword high above her head, preparing to slice the mans face in half with her blade, but seeing him there in a pool of his comrades blood, unarmed, begging for his life caused her to waver and lower the sword. She walked away from the broken man over to Yahiko. "Are you all right?" She asked gently, not wanting to upset Yahiko anymore, especially not after all he's been through. Yahoo stared at Kaoru with disbelief in his eyes. She had just slaughtered two men and was now covered in blood, some which was hers own. With a flick of her wrist she shook most of the blood off the blade before placing her sword in its sheath and asking Yahiko how he felt again. He didn't answer her, he only stared at the two dead men, a sickening feeling filled his stomach. 'I wanted to kill those men for all that they did but actually seeing them be killed made thinking about it fucking ridiculous. Did I really want to kill them? If I did then why do I hate the fact that they're dead? Is it because Kaoru killed them? Why did she kill them anyway?' Yahiko continued to contemplate their deaths until Kaoru gently shook him back into reality. "Yahiko, are you okay?" Yahiko looked up at her to see her face full of worry and concern. "Why did you kill them?" They were the only words he could speak. "Why? You killed them when you always told me to protect with a sword, not kill. Why?" He needed to know why, to know what had drove Kaoru to such extremes. "Because," she knelt down to look him in the eyes, "because in the most drastic situations, sometimes the only way to protect the innocent, to protect life, is to take life away. Do you understand?" She had prayed that he would understand why she killed them. "No I don't understand! How can you say that in order to protect you have to kill? You're not making any sense! If you're going to protect life then you don't take it away!" Yahiko just couldn't grasp what she was trying to explain to him. "The most drastic way to protect someone is to eliminate the person or thing that threatens their life. Do you get it? If I didn't kill them then after I died they would have murdered you and I have to protect you. Sometimes in order to preserve life you have to take it away. Get it?" She stood back up and looked away with tears brimming in her eyes. "I killed them to save you because I couldn't see another way. I thought that was the only way to protect you but that doesn't mean I enjoyed killing them. Taking away another life is probably the worst thing any person can do." Tears began to roll freely down her face causing Yahiko to want nothing more than to wipe away those tears, to stop her crying, but no matter what he did to help her it would never alleviate the guilt she felt for killing those men even if they were incredibly evil. She continued to speak "now I think I can understand the pain Kenshin feels. The guilt for taking away another life just hurts so much." Yahiko leaned in to hug her but in the corner of his eye he could see that Stony had taken the sword off of Chuckles dead body and the true leader had long ago recovered and was preparing himself for another attack but Stony had beat him to it and charged at the emotionally distraught Kaoru. "KAORU, LOOK OUT!" He turned Kaoru around who saw Stony charging with his sword drawn. In the seconds before he killed a startled Kaoru, a sword went though his back and out of his stomach. Stony dropped his sword to grab the blade that was grossly sticking out of his belly. Blood sputtered out of his mouth as he struggled to breathe. He dropped to his knees and the sword was yanked roughly out of the man before it was plunged repeatedly into his back. The leader stepped over the man he had just killed and began advancing on a slowly retreating Kaoru who had pushed Yahiko behind her to protect him with her body. "I wasn't gonna let him kill you," he spoke viciously, "I was gonna save that pleasure for myself. No bitch survives humiliating me like that and fucking survives to talk about. If my superiors found out that some stupid bitch dodged my attack, tripped me and them proceeded to kill my men I wouldn't live to hear the end of it." He continued to advance, backing Kaoru and Yahiko into the corner of the room. Yahiko looked around desperately, looking for a way out when thunder began to sound and Yahiko was suddenly reminded of his earlier plan to leap into the river. He looked around to see that they were only a few feet from the window. "Kaoru," he whispered quietly, "if we get to the window we can jump into the river. We'll be safe." Kaoru nodded slightly then repositioned herself so that she was backing Yahiko towards the window more instead of the corner. The leader continued to speak about the tortures he was planning on performing on Kaoru but she paid no attention to him and instead prepared herself to throw Yahiko out of the window. "NOW, YAHIKO, GO!" At her command Yahiko sprinted the short distance towards the window, however the leaded sword was drawn and he was prepared to stop Yahiko's daring escape. "I don't think so you little fucking prick!" He yelled as he brought back his sword then thrust it forward at Yahiko's head. "Watch out Yahiko!" Kaoru leapt, shoving Yahiko out of danger. The leader's sword sunk deep into her left shoulder and into the wall behind her, successfully pinning her to the wall. She grabbed the blade, attempting to pull it out of her shoulder but instead only managed to slice up her hands. She screamed in agony at her two new fresh wounds. The leader only laughed before the back of his hands swept across her face, his fingernails broke her skin and small beads of blood made a trail down her face. Yahiko turned around, rage shook his body. He had to save Kaoru, he wouldn't leave without her. "Leave her alone asshole!" Yahiko yelled and charged but Kaoru's desperate plea made him stop in his tracks. "Don't Yahiko!" She sobbed, "Just leave! Go and live on! Please don't die trying to save me, just go now! PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU! JUST GO!" She pleaded with him to leave but he refused. 'PROTECT HER!' His mind screamed, 'SAVE HER!' He charged towards the man, pulled his fist back and struck the man in the face with all the strength he could muster and prayed that he would go down even if it was just for a moment. "Is that the best you can do?" The leader spoke mockingly as he wiped the blood away from his mouth. His right arm shot out shoving Yahiko to the wall next to Kaoru. His strong hand wrapped around Yahiko's throat, lifting him up off the ground as he squeezed mercilessly. He balled his fist and prepared to beat Yahiko's face in. "Now let me show you what I can do." Yahiko shut his eyes preparing for the worst, while he listened to the man's throaty chuckles and Kaoru's whimpers of pain and desperation.  
  
Suddenly the door had been thrown open, Yahiko looked to see who the visitor was, hoping it would be Sano or Kenshin but instead it was another man clad in black, breathing incredibly hard as if he ran a marathon.  
"Sir!" He breathed as he ran towards his leader. "Sir, the dynamite's been lit. We have less than a minute and 30 seconds before the inn is destroyed. Lets get out of here while we still have a chance!"  
The leader had dropped Yahiko to the ground to cough and gasp for breath before turning his murderous hatred to the unfortunate man who had just entered the room. "You fucking idiot! I never gave you fucking orders to ignite the dynamite! I told you to wait for my order! We don't have enough time to get out of the inn you damn idiot!"  
"But sir, I was-'' his excuses were cut short when the leader yanked the sword out of Kaoru's shoulder and turned it on his man.  
"Shut the hell up!" He ordered as he decapitated the scared man. The body collapsed to the floor while the head rolled in front of Yahiko before it was kicked away by the angry leader. Then he turned back to Kaoru and Yahiko. "All I need is a minute to take care of you two." Yahiko looked to his side to see that Kaoru had fallen to the floor after the blade had been removed from her shoulder and was now clutching on to her wound. 'I won't let this happen,' determination filled Yahiko's thoughts, 'we'll get out of here. I won't let us die. I WON'T!!!' Yahiko tackled the man, shoving his shoulder into the leader's thigh while his arms grabbed his legs and pulled him up. The leader fell to the ground on his back; his katana fell out of his hand and was now several feet away from him. Both the leader and Yahiko stumbled to their feet, but while the leader went to retrieve his sword, Yahiko had pulled Kaoru to her feet and was now half dragging her to the window.  
"C'mon Kaoru, we're almost there." He threw open the window, cold rainwater splashed his hot, bloodied face. "All right, let's go!" He reached over to help Kaoru jump out of the window but was stopped when she began shoving him out instead.  
"You first Yahiko, you go first." She pushed him a little more.  
"All right, here I go." He jumped on the window sill then looked out to the river below, deciding that he would barely have to jump to reach the water. He turned to face Kaoru again to determine if she was fit to jump on her own when he saw a sight that turned his blood to ice water. The leader was on his feet, his sword over his head, charging Kaoru while she had her back turned.  
"KAORU, BEHIND YOU!!!" Kaoru seemed to sense the attack because she was already unsheathing her sword.  
She looked Yahiko in the eyes; fear filled his while sadness filled hers. "Goodbye." She said sadly then used most of her remaining strength to shove Yahiko out the window and into the river before she turned around swinging her completely unsheathed sword.  
"KAORU!!!" Yahiko screamed as he slammed into the freezing water below. The cold dark overtook him as he blacked out for a moment. He opened his eyes when the oxygen he held in his lungs escaped through his mouth. All he could see was darkness, all he could feel was the cold water. He couldn't breathe; he couldn't find his way to the surface. He was going to suffocate as the river's strong current pulled him along. Before he could slip completely into darkness strong hands grabbed him and dragged him out of the freezing water.  
"Yahiko, wake up!" A familiar voice yelled. He opened his eyes to see the world spinning. He could see many people who had evacuated the inn watching in fear as the police fought some of the men in black had escaped the inn before it blew. He looked up to see who the voice and hands belonged to when he saw a man dressed in white with a red band around his head. The man closely resembled a rooster. Then he turned his attention to the man with flaming red hair and a scar on his left check.  
"Yahiko, can you hear us? Answer us!" The rooster demanded.  
"Sano? Kenshin? Is that you?" Yahiko was almost completely detached from the real world.  
"Yeah it's us! What the hell the matter with you? What the hell's been happening?" Sano was hitting him with a barrage of questions but Yahiko still wasn't sensible enough to answer any of them until Kenshin asked him a simple, urgent question that threw Yahiko back into reality.  
"Yahiko, where is Kaoru-dono?" He spoke urgently, worry dripped off every syllable.  
Yahiko was suddenly hit with memories of the events that had just occurred, but one memory stuck out most of all. The last thing that he saw before he entered the river burned in his mind. He remember seeing Kaoru turn around to face her attacker with an unsheathed sword aimed at his abdomen, while the leader was bringing his own sword down on Kaoru.  
"The inn! She's still inside!" With his god-like speed Kenshin was dashing towards the inn determined to rescue his Kaoru, but before he could reach the entrance the dynamite in the inn was finally reached by the burning wick and the inn went up in flames subsequent to the explosion. Yahiko could hear Kenshin scream out Kaoru's name in hopes that she would appear but to no avail. Yahiko could hear Sano silently weep and he soon followed suite. He opened his teary eyes to stare at the inn engulfed in flames. The image of that fiery inn, the thought of Kaoru's body covered in flames would forever haunt Yahiko until the day he died. He drew in a deep breathe and bellowed out her name.  
  
"KAORU!!!" Yahiko screamed as he shot up out of his dreams. 'Why do I have to remember that horrible night when I sleep!? Will I ever get some peace, will my memories ever stop haunting me!?' Yahiko looked around his room in the dojo. 'It's been three years since Kaoru died but it still feels like yesterday.' He closed his eyes and remembered the days after the inn exploded. The fire had eventually been put out thanks to the river and rain and several bodies had been removed from the rubble but they were all burnt beyond recognition. After a while the people helping with the cleanup of the inn stopped looking for bodies to turn their focus to punishing the men who had attacked the inn. The men who had been caught refused to give any information about their group, leaders, or why they had attacked the inn so after being tortured for several days they were executed. The Kenshin-gumi still searched for Kaoru in the hopes that she had managed to strike down the leader first, and then proceeded to jump out the window into the river. Their hopes were slim and depended on a scenario that probably didn't happen because most likely, Kaoru had been murdered by the leader in the inn and her body was burnt with the others but they still searched for days. Kenshin searched nonstop without food or sleep until they had finally given up on finding her alive and instead shifted their focus on recovering her body but unfortunately Kaoru's body was never found. For nearly three months Kenshin was in a deep depression. He stayed in his room, barely eating or sleeping, keeping himself on the brink of death. The only thing that had managed to keep him alive and snap him out of his depression was the message Kaoru had asked Yahiko to give to everyone.  
  
Yahiko rolled over onto his stomach, 'Kaoru, why did you have to leave us? We need you so much. Why did you leave us?' Then all of the suppressed feelings that Yahiko had held inside of him for nearly three years came out. He sobbed into his arms. His cries were violent, wracking his body uncontrollably until the sudden release of so many powerful emotions began to slowly put him asleep. He was crying so hard that he didn't notice that his door, which had been open for several minutes, was slowly being closed by the man who had just witnessed Yahiko's breakdown.  
  
Author's notes: That's the end of chapter 3. Reviews are appreciated, so if you want to review go ahead. Sorry for waiting so long to update. The next chapter will take place in Kenshin's P.O.V. The next chapter will shed some new light on Kaoru's "death" before the real adventure begins. Also, I just want to warn you right now that this story is still just beginning so it's going to be very long and if you're not the kind of person who is into long stories then you should just stop reading. Thanks for the reviews! 


	4. interrupted

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the Rurouni Kenshin characters.  
  
Authors Notes: This is the fourth chapter in my first story. It takes place in Kenshin's P.O.V. Tell me if you want me to keep writing the story because I don't see much of a point of continuing if no one likes it. I've said it before but I'll say it again, this is going to be a long story so if you're not into long stories then you should just stop reading. Also this chapter is a lot less sad and much more romantic than the other chapters but I thought I should do a little lighter chapter to reveal Kenshin's side of the story and show you a little of what is coming up. Plus I changed my settings so now anyone can review. Enjoy the chapter! "Speech" 'Thoughts'  
  
Last chapter:  
Yahiko rolled over onto his stomach, 'Kaoru, why did you have to leave us? We need you so much. Why did you leave us?' Then all of the suppressed feelings that Yahiko had held inside of him for nearly three years came out. He sobbed onto his arms. His cries were violent, wracking his body uncontrollably until the sudden release of so many powerful emotions began to slowly put him asleep. He was crying so hard that he didn't notice that his door, which had been open for several minutes, was slowly being closed by the man who had just witnessed Yahiko's breakdown.  
  
Chapter Four  
After deftly closing Yahiko's door, Kenshin slid down to the floor to rest his head against the door. He listened until Yahiko's whimpers had stopped completely and he was sure that Yahiko was asleep. Kenshin dropped his head as a wave of guilt washed over him. 'I should have talked to Yahiko after she died. I should have been there for him instead of letting him put up a barrier but.but it was just too hard. I couldn't look him in the eyes, not after seeing how much he blamed himself for her death. But it's not his fault. It's no one's fault but mine. It's my fault.' Kenshin picked himself and carried himself to his sanctuary.  
He entered Kaoru's room which he had left untouched since she left. He feared he would wash out her presence if he came into her room too often so his retreats to this haven were cherished and special and reserved entirely for him. He had made sure that no one else entered her room in fear that the intruder would contaminate his sacred refuge. He inhaled deeply through his nose trying to smell the familiar jasmine scent that was pure Kaoru. He walked to her closet to root through her kimonos. He handled each kimono gently for several moments all the while recalling when he saw her wearing the particular garment he held and how beautiful he remembered she looked in it. After fingering through her clothes he crossed over to her futon which had been neatly put away by her on the last morning she was at the dojo.  
Kenshin laid out her futon on the floor then gently lowered himself to the floor so that he was lying next to it. He rested a small portion of his head on the futon, breathing deeply through his nose. 'It still smells like my Kaoru.' He allowed his mind wander to many of the fond memories he had of Kaoru when his mind came to the memory of the night that, three years ago, that was the beginning of the end.  
  
Kenshin reset the table for the seventh time, finally satisfied with the results. Then he rushed over to bring the food he had tediously prepared to his and Kaoru's dishes before he lit the candles. 'Everything will be perfect for tonight. I cooked Kaoru's favorite dishes, the table is set perfectly, the candles add romance, Yahiko is spending the night with Sano who promised not to drop by, Megumi is at the clinic, no visitors are expected tonight and best of all, my beautiful Kaoru will be getting the surprise of her life tonight.' Kenshin heart soared with happiness as he thought of what he was preparing to tell and ask Kaoru. Before Kenshin called Kaoru to dinner he did a quick check on his appearance. He was dressed in the same hakama but instead of his trademark pick gi he chose to wear the navy blue gi Kaoru had picked up for him at the market. He brushed a little dirt off his clothing, 'okay, now everything is perfect.'  
"Is it all right if I come out now?" Kaoru's voice was slightly impatient as it came from her room and reached Kenshin's ears.  
"Yeah," Kenshin's voice cracked with nervousness causing him to sound like he was going through puberty. "Yeah, you can come out now."  
Time seemed to slow down as Kaoru strolled towards Kenshin who's mouth had dropped. She wore a navy blue kimono with a silver cherry blossom tree embroidered on it. She chose not to wear her favorite indigo ribbon tonight; instead her rave hair cascaded like a waterfall down her back outlining her breathtaking face. Her eyes shone with warmth and love all directed at Kenshin.  
"Kenshin?" She asked then she giggled softly as she closed Kenshin's mouth with one of her lovely hands. "Are you all right?" She smiled lovingly while her hand traced the scar on his left cheek.  
"Yeah.yeah, I'm fine. I'm great." He reached up, grabbed her hand, then cradled it softly in his own. "You just surprised me that's all."  
"I surprised you? How?" She moved a little closer so that Kenshin could practically feel the heat radiating off of her.  
"It's just.it's just you're so beautiful. I wasn't prepared to see something as lovely as you." Even in the candlelight Kenshin could see Kaoru blush deeply. 'That's right Himura,' Kenshin told himself, 'don't be nervous. Be calm and tell her exactly how you feel, if you do that then this night will be perfect.' "Shall we begin to eat dinner?" He asked gently as he escorted her toward the dinner table. He heard her gasp as she saw the dinner he had carefully prepared.  
"Wow. Kenshin, everything is perfect." She spoke softly fore the beginning of the night had already managed to take her breath away.  
They ate their dinner in relative silence, the only noise was the compliments Kaoru gave and the soft chewing made by the couple. They had grown very close in the past months, so close that many times they could sit together for hours without exchanging a word because they were completely content just being in the others presence. Throughout the dinner they gave each other loving looks and smiles.  
After finishing their meal Kenshin held out his hand to Kaoru who accepted. 'All right,' he thought, 'everything is going according to plan. Now just bring her outside so you can ask her your question under the moonlight. Very romantic, she'll be sure to say yes!' "Kaoru-dono, the moon is full tonight and the sky is very clear. Why don't we take a little stroll under the stars?" She accepted while he brought her outside. Something in her heart already told her what was going to happen and her happiness was barely containable.  
The full moon looked like a perfect pearl in the sky and with the help of the stars that shone very brightly Kenshin was sure that he almost had his perfect setting to tell Kaoru what was on his mind. He pulled Kaoru very close to him so that she wouldn't be cold in the early winter's night and because he wanted a reason to hold Kaoru close to him. They walked until they reached the stream where Kenshin had left her to leave for Kyoto but his time leaving Kaoru was the very last thing on his mind. The melody of the stream's gentle current had finally made everything perfect for Kenshin.  
"Kaoru," he said her name with no formalities to add more intimacy to the night while his arms moved around her to pull her gently into his embrace, "I need to ask you something very important that means a lot to me but before I do I feel I need to tell you something. Something I should have told you the very first day I met you." He took a deep breath as he stared at Kaoru's anticipating joyful blue eyes before his eyes traveled down her face to her full lips which were completely irresistible.  
As if rehearsed, both Kaoru and Kenshin began slowly leaning into each other. "Kaoru," their faces were closing in on each other, "I have to tell," Kaoru closed her eyes as prepared herself for the impact that their lips were sure to make, "you that," Kenshin could feel her soft bangs and warm breath on his face, "I lov-"  
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." They quickly pulled apart before they made the contact they both longed for. Kaoru, who faced was flushed with embarrassment and anger from being caught before her lips could graze Kenshin's, turned to face the unwanted presence.  
"Actually," Kenshin's voice was much harder and cold than normal, "you are interrupting, so I would appreciate it if you would leave."  
"Is that Battousai I hear or are you just really angry with me?" Saitoh smirked while his cocky amber eyes danced with amusement.  
"Saitoh, what do you want?" His voice was full of impatience and anger.  
"No need to get pissy. Actually, I was heading towards Tanuki's dojo to speak to you but it seems that I don't have to go that far." He glanced at Kaoru before turning his full attention back on Kenshin. "You know Battousai, if you were planning on fucking the Tanuki then I suggest you do it inside, it's just polite."  
"What the hell do you want Saitoh? Tell me quickly. I have better things to do than waste my time talking to you." Kenshin's voice was low and closely resembled the voice of Battousai. Kaoru noticed this and immediately forgot the vulgar comment Saitoh made. She grabbed Kenshin's hand to hold it in her own and squeezed tightly; Kenshin squeezed in return and suddenly reverting back to the kind Kenshin she was accustomed to.  
"I can see the 'better things' you have to 'do' but I can assure you the reason why I came to talk to you is much more important."  
"What exactly did you want to talk about?" Kenshin's level of curiosity was steadily rising.  
"Not here, let's go to the dojo and not with her present." Saitoh pointed to Kaoru, "She won't be involved in the conversation." Kaoru had the urge to beat Saitoh over the head with her bokken but instead she settled with shooting him dirty looks.  
"Fine, let's go to the dojo but whatever you have to say to me you can say in front of Kaoru or you won't say at all." Kenshin spoke firmly to settle the matter.  
Saitoh simply shrugged and started towards the dojo, "Whatever Battousai, I don't care either way."  
  
They arrived at the dojo and sat down together. Kenshin and Kaoru waited impatiently while Saitoh slowly sipped his tea purposely trying to piss them off. Kenshin drank some of his own drink before he started the conversation.  
"What did you want to speak to me about?" Kenshin had tired of Saitoh's games.  
"I came here to speak about the meeting you'll be attending in Osaka that takes place in a week." He spoke calmly as if this was old news to Kenshin.  
"What? What meeting? Why am I supposed to be going?" Confusion was written on Kenshin and Kaoru's face.  
"In one week there is going to be a meeting in Osaka."  
"We know that already but I want to know why Kenshin has to go." Kaoru didn't like Saitoh games. "Stop pussy footing around the subject and just tell us!"  
"Calm down," he took another sip of tea, "several government officials are meeting to discuss the plans to be taken to eliminate the Jigoku Hi clan. There becoming quite the nuisance for the government and of course they need my help as well as yours and for reasons I don't understand they want the help of that rooster idiot." He took another sip.  
"Wait a minute. The government wants you, Kenshin and Sano to go and fight some group of gangsters?" Kaoru was incredulous, she had never heard of the Jigoku Hi clan. If they were a threat then there probably would have been articles about them in the newspaper or she would have overheard gossip at the market. What kind of threat is a gang that doesn't even do anything? Kenshin was thinking along the same lines.  
"I agree with Kaoru-dono. If they were a threat then why haven't they done anything to scare the public into obeying them?"  
"They've done plenty." Saitoh reached into his uniform, pulled out a folder and threw it in front of Kenshin and Kaoru. "Go ahead." Kenshin and Kaoru began to pull out individual pieces of paper each reading small bits and pieces.  
"These are police reports aren't they?" Kaoru asked but didn't listen for an answer. "Small village attacked.over 200 killed.no survivors found." She looked at other pieces of paper, the reports were no better than any others. "Government building ambushed.all workers murdered.money and weapons were stolen.building destroyed."  
"School attacked.all students and teachers were found dead.families of victims were also soon murdered." Kenshin looked though several more reports, reading about attacks on individuals or ambushes on large groups of people. All of the victims were tortured before they were executed and every time there was an attack there were no survivors. At each crime scene a sword was left implanted in the ground. On the hilt of the sword was a carving of a man with a sword through his chest being engulfed by flames.  
"Why haven't there been any newspaper articles about this?" Kaoru stared at Saitoh waiting for an answer.  
"Word never got out because the public becomes frightened too easily. If they knew that a large group was committing mass murder there would be complete chaos. Many government officials feared they would be revolts if the people found out that the government was having a difficult time trying to put an end to a terrorist group. Also, the government is very young and very weak. It wouldn't take that much for it to crumble."  
"But still," Kaoru's temper was beginning to flare, "the people have a right to know, especially if their lives are in danger!"  
"The people will know. Tomorrow's newspapers will have articles explaining a little about the group and how the people can protect themselves while the government eliminates the threat."  
"The articles probably won't tell much of the truth if any!"  
"You're right, they won't. The articles will however explain that the group is completely ruthless and they'll include a description of the group's insignia." Saitoh flashed Kaoru a fake smile, "are you happy now?" He said sarcastically before he ignored her completely.  
"No!" She retorted.  
Saitoh ignored her and spoke directly to Kenshin, "so Battousai I suggest you get packing and tell that rooster to do the same. We'll provide you with rooms to stay with at a very nice inn so you don't have to worry about that." Kenshin was thinking about what he was being asked to do so he remained silent, Kaoru however was not.  
"I still want to know why Kenshin is needed. The government can probably find other people to take care of this problem, or better yet they could organize a militia large enough to do whatever has to be done. You're expecting too much out of one man."  
"You're right that a large militia could be used except that there are a couple of problems with that plan."  
"Like.?"  
"For instance, a large militia would kill anyone involved with the clan so that's a lot of dead bodies to bury not to mention all of the casualties the militia would suffer."  
Kaoru was silent. A lot of meaningless death was something she hated and something she knew Kenshin wouldn't be able to stand without being reminded of the Bakumatsu and reverting into the Battousai. When Kaoru had no comment to make Saitoh continued to speak.  
"Another reason is the only people that really have to be 'taken care' of are the leaders of the clan, if the leaders can be discovered and effectively removed then the clan will most likely break apart without any leader ship. Another reason why Battousai is needed is because our intelligence has informed us that many people in charge of the clan are powerful fighters from the Bakumatsu who would all love to kill the legendary Battousai with their blade. Besides," Saitoh drank the rest of his tea then poured himself another cup, "Battousai is already involved with the clan whether he like's it or not."  
Kenshin looked up surprised and spoke before Kaoru could ask what he was thinking, "I'm involved already? How?"  
"Do you remember a certain Makoto Shishio?" He asked with a tiny bit of sarcasm although this was hardly the time to be sarcastic.  
"What did this have to do with Shishio?"  
"A lot actually. The Jigoku Hi used to be working for Shishio, they too were striving for a 'new' Japan. However they relied too much of Shishio. All of their hopes depended on Shishio's success in defeating the Battousai, but he failed and died during the fight. As you know many of the people involved with Shishio's plot disappeared completely or just laid low. They didn't have a leader and without that they didn't have any hope in overthrowing the government but a while ago much of the group returned stronger than ever and following the orders of several powerful leaders, not just one. They've been fighting to complete Shishio's dream to take over Japan by throwing it in complete disarray."  
Kaoru spoke up again, "but why does that automatically make Kenshin involved? He defeated the old leader, he has nothing to do with this new group."  
"Don't be stupid, Tanuki. You don't think that the group doesn't want revenge on Battousai for defeating Shishio and destroying their dreams in one day? If you have a brain then please use it before you give me a headache with such stupid comments." He took another sip of tea then woke Kenshin out of his thoughts when he spoke to him again. "Listen Battousai, I don't give a shit if you want to, you'll be in Osaka having that meeting in a week because you're involved, understand? You can either go to Osaka and help out the government again or hide here at the dojo and wait for the Jigoku Hi to hunt you down and get revenge for Shishio by doing whatever they think is necessary. I'm fully aware that you can protect yourself but can your precious Tanuki? Or do you plan on protecting her and everyone else in Tokyo every second of the day?" He stood up and began to leave the dojo when Kenshin followed him with Kaoru close behind.  
"Saitoh, wait!" Saitoh turned around with an expecting look on his face. "When do Sano and I have to leave for Osaka?"  
"Five days. I left the four train tickets inside as well of a map of Osaka and directions to the inn you'll be staying at. There's also some money in case you need it."  
"Four train tickets? I thought only Sano and I were needed."  
"You thought right but I had assumed that Tanuki here and that little brat wouldn't let you leave without them so I suggest you be thankful that I decided to be kind enough to purchase four tickets instead of two." He turned and began to leave the dojo when he called over his shoulder, "see you in a week Battousai, and I suggest you rid yourself of that pathetic sakabatou and pick up a real katana!"  
Kenshin turned around to face Kaoru with an apologetic look on his face, but instead of facing an angry Kaoru he saw that see wasn't even looking at him or facing him.  
"Kaoru, I'm sorry this had to happen, especially on our perfect night." He approached her slowly, half expecting to see a depressed Kaoru and half expecting to see a angry Kaoru but what he saw was none of that.  
Kaoru was staring at the stars with a strange look on her face. "The stars are very beautiful tonight. Don't you think so Kenshin?" She spoke gently before turning to Kenshin, "just look at them." She pointed at one particularly bright star.  
"Yeah, they are very pretty, but the stars aren't what I wanted to talk about." He took Kaoru's hand within his own, "I wanted to know how you felt about what I have to do."  
Kaoru's demeanor didn't change a bit, she remained calm and gentle. "I don't like what's happening but I do understand that you have to do this and I know that I'll be there, by your side, every step of the way."  
Kenshin was a little more than shocked. He had prepared himself for her breakdown but she was perfectly calm and collect. "Are you sure you can be this calm about what's happening." 'Is she just hiding her feelings to make sure I don't worry? If she was I could probably tell. Kaoru's not exactly the hardest book to read.'  
"I'm actually not too stressed about this because there's something I know that you don't." She leaned in closer to Kenshin.  
"What exactly do you know?"  
"That as long as you promise me you'll come back to me you will. So I want you to promise that you'll come back after you fight these clan leaders or whatever. Promise me right now." She looked at Kenshin with her big innocent blue eyes.  
"I promise I'll always come back to you."  
"Great!" She leaned in and gave Kenshin a small kiss on his scar.  
"That reminds me, by the stream, I never got to tell you what I needed to tell you and I didn't get a chance to ask you that important question so I'll do it right now." He began to speak but Kaoru silenced him when she placed two of her fingers over Kenshin's lips.  
"What ever you needed to ask and say is just going to have to wait until you get done dealing with the Jigoku Hi clan, ok?" She removed her fingers and replaced them with her lips.  
They kissed each very softly, full of passion and love but not lustfully of hungrily. There would be time for kisses that after they took care of business with the government. They pulled apart due to lack of air. Although the kiss lasted for quite a while, for both parties it seemed to end too soon.  
Kaoru whispered into Kenshin's ear, her soft breath tickling him, "it's okay. I can wait for you. I'll wait forever if it comes to that." She kissed Kenshin's cheek before leading him inside. "Tomorrow morning you should tell Sano and Yahiko that we're going on a vacation to Osaka. I don't want Yahiko to know what's going on right away but tell Sano okay?"  
They reached Kaoru's room, Kenshin opened the door for her. "Kaoru, thank you for everything." He leaned down and kissed her goodnight.  
"You don't have to thank me Kenshin, just make sure you keep your promise and never leave me because I promise to do the same." She closed her door while Kenshin retreated to his own dwellings.  
  
One week later Kenshin, Sano, Saitoh and a few government men were all in a secret room in a very popular brothel discussing plans of action.  
"Hey, Kenshin," Sano whispered to Kenshin who was seated next to him, "why are we meeting in a whore house and are these asses ever gonna shut up or at least say something important?"  
"I don't know why were in a brothel but I do know that these men will keep talking and arguing until one is offended enough to leave." He whispered back before glancing at a very bored and angry looking Saitoh. "I spoke to Saitoh before the meeting, he said that there's been no new information about the Jigoku Hi clan. He also said that they still haven't discovered who's leading it so we probably won't get anything important out of this meeting."  
"Then why the hell are we here!?" Sano had yelled causing the discussion to stop and all eyes to be focused on him. He turned a little red because of his sudden outburst. "Sorry, sorry. Please, I beg you keep talking." A little sarcasm was hidden in his voice. When the conversation picked up again he turned back to Kenshin, "can't we leave?"  
"I don't think so. We're just gonna have to bear it."  
Sano scoffed, "this is bullshit. I bet Jouchan and Yahiko are out drinking and gambling and having the time of their lives."  
"Sano, drinking and gambling is what you do. I bet they're at the inn waiting for us to come back from our meeting."  
"Wanna bet that their having a hell of a lot of fun?"  
Kenshin smirked, 'poor Sano. He's so bored that he's going to make a ridiculous bet that. I guess I should humor him.' "Sure Sano I bet that Kaoru and Yahiko are-"  
He was cut off when the door was thrown open by a young police officer who was red in the face and out of breath. "Himura-san, Saitoh- san," he breathed hard trying to catch his breath.  
"HEY, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!? THIS IS A PRIVATE MEETING!!!" One of the men was yelling and throwing a fit that the meeting had been interrupted. The young man paid no attention. He ran over to Kenshin while trying to give his message. "Some guy from an inn, he, he was told to get Kenshin Himura and tell him that the inn was being attacked by men from the Jigoku Hi clan!" His words were spoken very quickly and barely understandable.  
"Wait slow down! Which inn is under attack and who told him to give me the message?"  
"He said the inn by the river was being attacked! He said that a boy with spiky black hair and a bokken told him to go to the police and find Kenshin Himura! He also said that the boy told him that Kaoru was in danger, tha-"  
Kenshin's heart had sunk into his stomach and before the young cop could finish his sentence he and Sano were already on a full sprint towards the inn. 'Kaoru, please be okay! You have to be okay, you just have to be.'  
They reached the inn in time to see the police intercept several men clad in black and begin to engage in combat. Kenshin looked all around the crowd of people who had been evacuated out of the inn for raven hair and blue eyes.  
"KENSHIN, COME HERE!" Kenshin ran towards Sano's urgent voice, 'maybe he found Kaoru.' He ran over to the river where Sano was hauling out a very dazed and barely living young boy that he recognized as Yahiko. His heart lighten slightly but still remained very heavy. ' Yahiko's okay, but where's Kaoru?'  
After Yahiko had become slightly aware of his surroundings Sano had hit him with a barrage of questions but Kenshin only had one.  
"Yahiko, where is Kaoru-dono?" He spoke urgently, he needed to know where she was.  
Yahiko was suddenly snapped back into reality, "the inn! She's still inside!"  
Kenshin ran as fast as he could toward the entrance, 'Kaoru you have to be alive! Just wait a little longer! I'm coming to save you!'  
Then it happened. In one second his entire world was torn apart when the thing that mattered the most to him was suddenly ripped away when the inn went up in flames. He could feel his heart being ripped out of his chest as he watched the inn burn. 'Kaoru.' He drew in a deep breath and tried to scream out all the pain he felt, tried to get her to return to him like she promised.  
"KAORU!!!" He collapsed to the ground, gently rocking himself while he repeated the name of his beloved. "Kaoru, Kaoru, Kaoru, Kaoru."  
  
Kenshin drew in a deep breath when he pulled himself out of his painful memories. He checked his surroundings. He was still in Kaoru's old room on the floor next to her futon. 'Shit, I've been in here too long.' He put her futon away and picked up everything he had misplaced before leaving her room, his sanctuary.  
Kenshin walked out to dojo to stare at the stars in the exact same spot where he and Kaoru shared their first kiss. 'If only I refused to go to Osaka. If I had then Kaoru would be here with me. They trip turned out to me meaningless in the end.' Shortly after the attack on the inn the Jigoku Hi clan wasn't heard from again, like they completely disappeared.  
Pain filled Kenshin's heart when he thought of how Kaoru died, how it was completely his fault. 'If I didn't go then Kaoru wouldn't have come and she would still be alive. There wasn't even any reason to go since the clan is gone anyway. It's my fault she died, it's my fault she had to break her promise. Now there's no way she can return to me.'  
Kenshin hand traveled the secret pocket in his gi. He reached inside and pulled out a western engagement ring. 'I heard it was a western tradition to give a ring like this to the person whom you loved and had hoped on marrying. Kaoru, I love you so much,' he put the ring back, 'that ring was meant to be given to you that night. I'm so sorry for telling you how I felt when I still had the chance. I'm so sorry.' He could feel that familiar heart wrenching feeling in his chest and he could feel the tears forming in his eyes but he sensed a familiar ki approaching which prevented him from completely breaking down. He wouldn't break down in front of this man. He turned to face his visitor.  
"What is it that you came here for?" There at the dojo gate was non other than the wolf of Mibu, Hajime Saitoh.  
  
Author's notes: That's it for chapter 4. The real adventure is going to begin just a little later on. Tell me what you think of the story. Thanks for the reviews! Also I changed my settings so now anyone can review. By the way, Jigoku Hi means hell fire. I'm not going to give any spoilers on whether the clan is still working together or if Kaoru is still alive. I'm going to apologize to anyone who expected action right away because this chapter and the next will probably be just talking and setting the rest of the story up. Thanks again for the reviews. 


	5. mission

Author's notes: I'm really sorry for the lack of updates but I've been really busy plus I've been getting really sick lately. WARNING: This chapter is going to go slower than the others because it's setting up the plot of the story but once I've gotten everything ready the story will get a lot better, I promise. Thanks for the reviews! By the way, this is only rated R because some parts defiantly aren't suited for children but other than that it's PG-13. "Speech" 'Thoughts'  
  
Last Chapter:  
"What is it that you came here for?" There at the dojo gate was non other than the Wolf of Mibu, Hajime Saitoh.  
  
Chapter Five:  
Kenshin glared at the unwanted visitor hoping he would leave him in peace. Anger filled Kenshin as stared at Saitoh. Three years didn't change him the slightest. Saitoh still wore an egoistically smirk while he's cat-like eyes taunted Kenshin's own, which at the moment were glowing a soft amber. 'You,' Kenshin thought, 'you're the source of my problems! If it weren't for you Kaoru would be here at my side. You're the reason she's dead!'  
"Why are you here? I'm not going to ask you again."  
"Still got that temper, don't you Battousai?" Saitoh smirked at the sight of Kenshin losing his cool.  
"Stop wasting my time and get to the point!" He snapped while his hand moved naturally to where his sword would be.  
Saitoh reached into the pocket of his uniform and retrieved an envelope and a sack. "I'm here on behalf of the government. I've been sent here because your help is needed once more." His voice still held its mocking tone but Saitoh was holding something back, an ace up his sleeve that he would play after he saw Kenshin's initial reaction.  
Kenshin scoffed and then turned to walk away. 'The nerve of this asshole! Does he expect me to jump at the chance to help the government? If it weren't for the last time needed my help on some bogus mission Kaoru would still be alive and my life wouldn't be a living hell! I don't owe the government anything. If they need help then they can find it somewhere else.' Kenshin's cold voice pierced the night air, "I'll have to decline your offer. The government will just have to find someone else to run their errands" and with that said Kenshin began to walk away.  
Saitoh's eyes danced with amusement. This was exactly the reaction he had expected; now it was time to pull out his ace. He turned around and started a countdown in his head. "All right Battousai, but of all people I would have thought you would have jumped at the chance to bring the Jigoku Hi Clan to their knees," Kenshin stopped walking and Saitoh's smirk only grew, "after all they're the group that's responsible for Kamiya's death. I just thought that maybe you would have liked to get revenge, but I guess I was wrong." He walked away while he counted down in his head, '3.2.1.'  
"Wait!" Kenshin's voice was angry. He hated the fact that Saitoh was playing him so easily but if what Saitoh said was true, if he could get revenge on the men who took Kaoru's life, then he could bear to let Saitoh have the upper hand. "What about the Jigoku Hi Clan? I thought they broke apart after the attack on the inn."  
"So did we but apparently they were just laying low for the time being so they could gather their forces and begin to collect black-market weapons from the west." Saitoh knew that Kenshin would take the mission now that he knew that he would have a chance to avenge Kaoru's death. "Recently they've been causing quite a stir. They've been kidnapping young girls and selling them to brothels or anyone who really wants them not to mention the large amounts of opium they've been producing lately. Both are giving the clan large quantities of money which they've been using to stock up on weapons smuggled from the west. Gattling guns, rifles, colt revolvers; it would seem they're preparing to launch a war against Japan which is why we're going to stop them before that happens."  
"We're? Who else is planning on tagging along?"  
"I'll be helping but only up to a certain point. Once I get you where you need to go I'll be working on my own."  
"That's the first good news I've gotten today." Kenshin's eyes were still a soft amber however more lavender could be seen.  
Saitoh ignored the comment and continued speaking as if Kenshin had never opened his mouth, "Also, that idiot Sagara and his wife will be coming I've already spoken to them earlier in this evening when they were on their way home and I assumed that the boy, Myojin, would be coming along."  
"Will that be all or is the rest of Tokyo coming?"  
"Actually there's a little more. Seijuro Hiko will be meeting us in Yamagata along with a woman named Haruka and her apprentice."  
"Why is Hiko helping? I thought he wanted to live his life as a hermit."  
"I don't know the reason but I presume that his presence has something to do with Haruka," Saitoh pulled out a cigarette.  
"Who is this Haruka women? Why is she accompanying us?" Kenshin's eyes were beginning to lose their amber tinting.  
"I don't know much about her except that she's incredibly powerful and dangerous. She's the 11th master of an ancient style of fighting called Youkai Katsu Ryuu. It's a style that combines many techniques from other martial arts and the control of ki to destroy your enemy quickly and completely. I've heard that she's finished training her apprentice but I don't know anything more about Haruka or her pupil." Saitoh threw the sack and envelope that he had taken from his uniform earlier and threw them in front of Kenshin. "Inside the envelope is a letter that says exactly what I've just told you and in the sack is enough money to get you and your friends from here to Yamagata." Saitoh threw the cigarette butt on the ground, stepping on it as he made his way out the dojo. "I expect to see you in Yamagata in two weeks, don't be late."  
"Saitoh!"  
Saitoh was slightly surprised to hear the Battousai's low, threatening growl, but he turned around none the less to see that it was indeed the Battousai that had spoken to him instead of Kenshin.  
Battousai stood still while the wind played with his flaming hair; his eyes were a frightening amber that glowed with anger directed at Saitoh. Thoughts of anger and revenge swirled in his mind creating a boiling, vicious, malignant bubbling stew of hatred. Then he spoke in a voice that neither threatened nor warned, only promised. "If anything happens to anyone I care about again, if anyone of my friends are harmed then I slit your belly and piss on your grave." He retrieved the sack of money and the envelope, "you have my word." Battousai gave Saitoh one last look of hatred before retreating to the dojo.  
  
Author's notes: Sorry again for the lack of updates and the real short chapter. I took so long to update because I've been really busy but I finally got some extra time to write a short chapter. This chapter is only short because the next one in going to be really long and I didn't want to combine the two. Thanks for reading. 


	6. who are you?

Author's notes: Sorry for the lack of updates but I've been really busy with school and work. Anyway, tell me what you think of the story. Constructive criticism is always accepted. Also if you have any ideas about where to take the story after this chapter then please email me because I'm having some serious writer's block. Thanks for reading and reviewing. "speech" 'thoughts'  
  
Last Chapter:  
Battousai stood still while the wind played with his flaming hair; his eyes were frightening amber that glowed with anger directed at Saitoh. Thoughts of anger and revenge swirled in his mind creating a boiling, vicious, malignant bubbling stew of hatred. Then he spoke in a voice that neither threatened nor warned, only promised. "If anything happens to anyone I care about again, if anyone of my friends are harmed then I slit your belly and piss on your grave." He retrieved the sack of money and the envelope, "you have my word." Battousai gave Saitoh one last look of hatred before retreating to the dojo.  
  
Chapter Six:  
Two weeks had passed since Saitoh's unwanted visit to the Kamiya dojo yet Kenshin accepted the mission and was now waiting impatiently at a riverbank in Yamagata with Yahiko, Sano and Megumi for Saitoh and Hiko to make their appearance.  
"What do think is taking them so long?" Yahiko finally asked the question on everyone's mind.  
"Who knows." Sano sat down on a log next to Megumi who rested her head on his shoulder. They had expected to rendezvous with Saitoh and Hiko nearly an hour ago.  
"They're probably out drinking or something," and with that Yahiko plopped on the ground to make small designs in the dirt with his bokken.  
"Well I don't care what they're doing," Megumi said, "it's incredibly rude to leave us waiting like this, especially when Saitoh was the one who came to us for help! Don't those bakas have any manners!?"  
"Is someone grumpy today?" Sano poked her arm teasingly.  
"Does someone want to die today?" Megumi said sweetly.  
Kenshin remained silent while Sano, Megumi and Yahiko continued to joke, complain and just make everyday small talk; he was too deeply immersed in his own thoughts to pay any attention to their conversation. 'What will I do when I come face to face with Kaoru's killers? Will I simply hand them over to Saitoh or will Battousai take over? Will I get revenge? Will I break my vows to never kill again?" Kenshin kicked a stone into the river in frustration, 'damn it all! Kaoru, I wish you were here. I bet right know you would say something beautiful and innocent to make me feel better. I love you for that, for always being so caring and optimistic. You-'  
Kenshin sensed two powerful ki's approaching the riverbank and turned in time to hear Yahiko make a remark to Sano about how Megumi kept him on a short leash.  
Kenshin stopped their conversation with two simple words, "They're here." Everyone turned to see Hiko and Saitoh coming towards them. Saitoh was carrying something in a tattered sheet. They hadn't seen Hiko since they had to go to Kyoto to fight Shishio but even after three years Hiko appearance hadn't changed a bit. He was still tall and muscular with an egotistical aura that was as noticeable as the large cape he wore and the jug of sake in his hand. Hiko looked at Kenshin and snorted, "I didn't think I'd be seeing you again.'' Kenshin nodded in agreement.  
Megumi snapped at them, "You're late! We were waiting here for nearly an hour! What took you so long?"  
Hiko answered her simply, "I ran out of sake so I had to get some more." He shrugged before taking a drink from the jug.  
Yahiko looked at Sano, "told you they were drinking."  
"Anyway, on to more important matters," Saitoh cleared his throat as if preparing to make a speech, "before we start hunting down the leaders of the clan we have a small mission in Yamagata to complete so-"  
"Wait a minute," Sano looked at back and forth between Saitoh and Hiko several times, "you said that we were supposed to meet a woman here in Yamagata. Some great fighter called Haruka and her apprentice right? Where are they?"  
"I already spoke to Haruka this morning. We'll be meeting her and her pupil tomorrow at a restaurant in town." Saitoh lit a cigarette.  
"Why isn't she helping us with this mission? Does she know about it?"  
"Because we don't need her help. I spoke to her about it and she said she would tell her student what's happening and that tomorrow they would meet us and now if you would shut your mouth I could explain what needs to be done."  
Sano was going to pounce but Kenshin stood in between him and Saitoh, "Go ahead, tell us about this mission."  
"It's a simple mission that only you and this baka," he motioned towards Sano, "will need to go on. Your other friends will be staying at an inn," Saitoh saw how Kenshin's eyes darkened when he told him that his remaining friends would be staying at an inn. The last time he told Kenshin that, the inn was attacked and Kaoru was murdered so he added, "The inn will be protected plus Hiko agreed to watch over them. I have to speak to the chief of police here so I won't be helping you either."  
Hiko took another swig of sake, "Saitoh, don't ramble on like a woman, just get to the point so we can leave." Saitoh looked angry but Hiko paid no attention, Sano however looked incredibly happy at finally seeing someone say something to piss Saitoh off.  
"Anyway," Saitoh voice was strained with anger, "you two have to find the man in charge and just bring him to me or kill him. Whether he's dead or alive really doesn't matter."  
"Who are we trying to capture?" Kenshin asked.  
"A man named Arakawa Juzo. He's currently running a small operation that's been kidnapping local girls and selling them to the highest bidders in other cities. Also, he's been pushing large quantities of opium into the streets of Yamagata." Saitoh handed Kenshin a map. "I've marked where the inn is and the location of Arakawa's hideout is also marked."  
"You're giving him the map?" Hiko drank some more sake, "this baka will just lose it or get lost." He turned his back to them and started walking back the way he came.  
Kenshin called to him, "Where are you going?"  
"Somewhere else, I have better things to do than waste my time here."  
"Sensei, you'll be at the inn right?"  
Hiko waved his hand dismissively, "Yeah, yeah" he said before disappearing from sight.  
"Hey kid," Saitoh called to Yahiko, "you and-"  
"I'm not a kid asshole!"  
"Shut up! Just go to the inn like a good little boy." Saitoh motioned to Megumi, "you go too. Here's a map." He looked at the map that Megumi was studying, a fake look of thoughtfulness on his face. Megumi noticed the look on his face, "what?"  
"Maybe you should give the map to the kid. I know that women can't  
read directions, you'll probably just end up lost" he jerked his head  
in the direction that Hiko went in, "now buzz off."  
Megumi and Yahiko went as ordered although Megumi didn't leave without telling Saitoh exactly what she thought about him in a very impressive stream of curse words but Saitoh simply shrugged off the insults like an annoying fly on your shoulder.  
Kenshin turned to Sano, "I see Megumi added some new words to her vocabulary."  
Sano nodded then added jokingly, "I've taught her well."  
Saitoh cleared his throat very loudly, "well?" He asked Sano.  
"Well what?"  
"Are you going to go to Arakawa's hideout or do I need to hold your hand?"  
Sano scoffed and took the map out of Kenshin's hand. "Jeez Saitoh, I think you have a temper problem. What's wrong? Your wife not giving you any?" He studied it for a second before heading toward the bridge that spanned the river. "Hey Kenshin watch out. I think Saitoh's on his period."  
Saitoh cursed at Sano but he shrugged off the insults like Saitoh had done earlier. Saitoh turned to Kenshin, his eyes still filled with anger over being insulted several times today.  
Kenshin wasn't in the mood to listen to Saitoh's arrogant voice so he decided to retreat also. "I think I'll be going to catch up with Sano now." He turned to leave when Saitoh thrust the package in the sheet in front of him.  
"I suggest you should use this instead Battousai."  
Kenshin grabbed the package; it was long, heavy and skinny. He knew immediately what it was and he gave the package back to Saitoh. "I don't use a katana anymore," Kenshin patted the weapon at his waist, "this works just fine."  
Saitoh chuckled, "that hunk of steel should be melted down and turned into something useful. What's the point of a non lethal sword?" He gave the katana back to Kenshin.  
"It's a weapon that suites me perfectly. I'll fight if I have to but I made a vow never to kill again. This sword serves that purpose; to fight but not destroy." He gave the katana back to Saitoh.  
Saitoh laughed again but this time he kept the sword. "A sword that can't kill is like a beast with no fangs. I'll hold on to this sword for you just until your fangs grow back."  
"I won't need that sword...ever. I made a vow never to kill and I plan to uphold it." His voice was strong and confident. It was filled with a steely resolution that comforted Kenshin.  
"Sure, you keep thinking that but just remember that when you need the sword I'll be holding it for you." Saitoh began to walk away when Kenshin stopped him.  
"I said I don't need that sword! I will never kill again." His voice was still strong but something in his heart wavered.  
"You may feel that way now, but will you feel the same way when you finally meet the people that tore Kamiya away from you? What happens then Battousai? Would you stick to your vow to never kill even if your victims would be the men that murdered your woman?" Saitoh didn't turn; he just continued to walk away from Kenshin not expecting an answer from him.  
And the truth was Kenshin couldn't give him an answer. His voice that was so powerful seconds ago was now lost and Kenshin couldn't seem to find it.  
Saitoh called to him again, "just remember, when you want this sword I'll have it for you!"  
Kenshin stood frozen in place. 'Will I kill the men who murdered Kaoru? Will I really need that sword? My mind is telling me that I won't but if that's the truth then why do I have this strange feeling in my heart?' Kenshin was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice Sano approaching him until Sano tapped his shoulder. "Are we gonna go 'cause we don't have all day." Kenshin remained silent. "Hey Kenshin, are you okay?"  
"Yeah I'm fine." Kenshin's voice was strangely detached as if he was watching the internal war rage within himself and was completely unaware of the real world.  
Sano didn't believe him so he pressed on, "are you sure? Did Saitoh say something?"  
"I said I'm fine so let's just go." Kenshin rushed past Sano in a brisk manner to find Arakawa's hideout. Sano knew Saitoh had said something that deeply bothered Kenshin. 'I bet Saitoh said something about Jouchan. Whatever he said is really messing with Kenshin's head.' He sighed heavily, 'Kaoru if only you were here.' Sano began running after Kenshin, trying to catch up. 'Kenshin really needs you. We all do.'  
  
About two hours had passed since Kenshin and Sano left the riverbank in search of Arakawa. The map said his location was in the mountains surrounding Yamagata. Kenshin looked at the trees surrounding him then at the map. If his calculations were correct they should find Arakawa's haven pretty soon.  
Sano spat on the ground, "damn it Kenshin! We've been out here for about two fuckin' hours! Are we getting closer or are we just lost? Shit...the sun's setting and we still haven't found this Arakawa asshole and I'm getting tired of lookin." Sano's stomach grumbled, "and I'm hungry."  
"We should be getting really close to his hideout. Actually, I'm surprised we didn't find it already."  
Sano stopped walking and pointed ahead, "I think we just did."  
Hidden behind some very large trees Kenshin could make out the side of a traditional Japanese mansion. The building was very large and had guards with rifles posted at the gates and around the mansion was an exceptionally tall courtyard wall. "A secluded mansion that has guards with guns and a high wall to keep intruders out. Do you think Arakawa is a little paranoid?"  
"Naw," Sano answered, "I bet he's just an old tightwad who hates visitors." Sano looked at Kenshin, his face full of mischief and happiness over finally getting to see some action after trudging through the woods for so long, "let's pay him a visit."  
  
Sano and Kenshin split up and each ran in opposite directions around the mansion. They circled around to meet each other in front, taking out every guard on the way before they could sound an alarm with blows to the head, chest or gut.  
Sano reached the gates to find Kenshin waiting for him. "This guy's an idiot! For a geezer who can afford a mansion like this," Sano motioned at the mansion, "he sure did hire crappy guards."  
"Let's go." Kenshin led the way.  
"Do you think we should knock?" Sano joked. He was hoping to lighten Kenshin's mood ever since Kenshin's conversation with Saitoh but to no avail.  
They entered the mansion only to find that the hallway separated into two separate directions. They would have to part ways until one of them found Arakawa. "Sano, which way do you want to go?"  
"I'll go left and you go right."  
"All right, if you find Arakawa knock him out then bring him to the gates and wait for me to return. I'll do the same thing if I find him."  
"Got'cha." Sano turned to the left and sprinted down the hall then he took another turn and was out of Kenshin's sight.  
  
Kenshin ran down the hall with his godlike speed, rendering every unlucky man that crossed his path unconscious. He stopped and checked another room but this one like all the ones before was empty. 'Something's strange...this is too easy. There aren't as many guards as I would have expected. Something must be wrong. I just hope Sano will be okay. He didn't sense any ki's farther down the hall but something willed him to keep walking in that direction. He passed a door that would him out to the courtyard but he ignored it. He took several deep breaths, tasting the air with each one. The hall became darker as the air became thicker, mustier and filler with an eerier familiarity that made Kenshin feel as if he were still a hitokiri. A ghastly scent assaulted his nose, a scent that was absolutely disgusting but horribly familiar to him, familiar to the Battousai. It was the smell of blood, a great amount of blood. A small black creature quickly darted into the room at the end of the hall. Kenshin sprinted forward; his hand was gripping his sakabatou. He threw the door open and stopped in shock.  
The room was littered with several bodies of slaughtered men. The floor was covered in a layer of blood as if it were ice covering a small pond. He knelt down and inspected the body near his feet. The man's weapon was still at his belt, instead the hand that was still attached to his body grasped chopsticks that still held a small piece of food covered in blood. His spinal cord had been completely sliced in half as was the rest of the man's body. His torso was nearly a foot away from his lower limbs.  
Movement in the corner of the room caught his eye. The same black cat that had darted into the room seconds earlier was now gorging itself on another man's spilt entrails. The man had been apparently sliced across the stomach and, in the seconds before he died, made a futile attempt to shove his intestines back into himself. Kenshin glanced around. Six other men were also lifeless, all of them had died different deaths but their wounds were clearly made by a sword, one sword. Kenshin noticed that one man still had food in his mouth. 'They were killed while they were eating dinner. And it seems that they were all killed by the same person,' Kenshin saw no sign of struggle; 'all these men were taken by surprise and slaughtered in seconds. Whoever did this is strong.' Kenshin left the men and headed back to the door that lead to the courtyard, 'whoever did that was really strong.'  
He stopped before sliding the door open. Kenshin took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Something inside of him was holding him back. Something inside him already knew what he was going to see when he enters the courtyard and that same something was making Kenshin a little apprehensive. That something was telling Kenshin that he had already seen too many lifeless faces for his lifetime but Kenshin pushed on and open the door and entered the courtyard.  
The courtyard was large and lovely. The way is hade been designed screamed elegance and beauty. Briefly, Kenshin thought that this would have been an ideal place to purpose to Kaoru. The only thing that marred such a perfect setting was the disemboweled men on the ground. Kenshin had expected that he would see several dead men and he was correct. These men had been all killed by the same person who had destroyed the other men who were eating. In the moonlight Kenshin could see that one man had enough time to draw his weapon before being dispatched. Kenshin approached the dead body. He had his weapon out and seemed to be holding it in a protective manner but it was no use to him because a sword had pierced his throat. If the man didn't die immediately he may have choked on his own blood. Kenshin could tell that the man had been killed seconds earlier because dark oozing liquid was still gushing out in immense quantities from the gaping hole in his neck.  
Kenshin's eyes followed the steady stream of blood that flowed from the body to an open cellar door and was dripping down the steps. 'An open cellar door, why would that door be opened?' Kenshin carefully stepped over the man. He took special precautions to ensure that he didn't step on any missing limbs or spilt organs. He stared down into the dark, gloomy cellar. 'Whoever killed these men must be down there,' he quietly began his descent down the cellar steps, 'somebody killed a lot of people tonight and I'm going to find out who.'  
  
The cellar wasn't a cellar at all. It might've started out as a cellar but now it was a large, extravagantly decorated room that was separated in two by a wall that cut the room in half. The room had expensive portraits hanging in every wall along with useless swords that were coated with a thin layer of gold. They hung on the wall over the door that connected the rooms. They were purely for show just like the bouquets of flowers and the delicately crafted tables and chairs that were covered with empty bottles of extremely expensive sake. Insects were burning from several holders all around the room that filled the room with a cloud of pleasant smelling smoke and masked the stench of the spilt sake and the scent of blood which was slowly billowing down the stairs. Kenshin crept toward the door and strained his ears to hear what was happening on the other end. He could hear a drunken man's voice rich with avarice and malice. The man appeared to be talking to someone else.  
"Damn it," the man slurred, "where is that girl that I wanted! She should have been here already!" He moaned in self content, "I can't wait forever...I might just have to go along with out her if she doesn't want to help me out..." His voice faded into a moan, "Taku, go get that girl right now!" No one answered the man.  
Kenshin sensed that there was two ki's in the room. One was the older, gluttonous ki of the man and the other was a mystery to Kenshin. The other ki he sensed was almost completely hidden but it was slowly becoming more powerful and distinct. In fact the ki was becoming incredibly powerful and that was when Kenshin knew that the man in the room was accompanied by the murdered that killed many of the castle guards; whether the man knew that or not was still unsolved by Kenshin.  
Kenshin entered the room with all the skills he possessed as a hitokiri. The man who was speaking earlier was now beginning to pleasure himself. The man's wrinkled fat body was wrapped in clothes of pure silk while a silk handkerchief was wrapped around his eyes like a child awaiting a gift. His disgusting mass rested on a lush bed decorated with soft pillows and quilts. He stroked himself disgustingly while his tongue began to protrude from his mouth. He reached his climax and covered himself with a silk sheet very quickly and spoke again to the man he believed was there. "I told you, Taku, that I was going to have to start with or without that girl but I do expect her to be here soon." His gurgling voice suddenly became very threatening, "do you understand that Taku? What the hell's the matter with you? You haven't said anything all night!"  
Kenshin who was still reeling from barging in on such a disgusting sight turned his attention to a strange mass that was hidden from view behind a large plush chair. Behind the chair was the decapitated body of a man who was most likely the Taku that the fat man believed he was talking to. Placed very carefully between the legs of Taku was his head.  
The second ki that was in his room grew stronger and less wary of the presence of Kenshin. Kenshin was trying to focus on where the ki was coming from exactly but the ki was becoming erratic as if they knew Kenshin could sense it and was just trying to throw him off. Kenshin looked up at the dark ceiling; whoever else was here must be somewhere in the rafters.  
"Hey! Taku! Where the fuck is that little brothel girl you promised me?" The man stood up in a drunken rage but was too stupid to think of removing the handkerchief from his face. "I shouldn't have to wait forever you know! I'm Arakawa and I run this place so if I want some little fifteen year old virgin to suck my cock I better get it! Do you understand me Taku!?" He began to throw a tantrum; stopping his feet and yelling of his needs, "I'm a man and I need some little whore to spread her legs at my every beck and call! I can't be expected to be a good leader if I can't get a stupid bitch to open up when I need it!"  
Kenshin had heard a small noise in the rafters; his hand flew to his sword. A small person dropped from the rafters, landing right in front of Arakawa with a soft thud, it's back turned to Kenshin. Arakawa heard the thud and stopped his rampage. He chuckled then grinned with happiness, "finally, a little fun." His hands groped for the figure who stood still as if carved out of stone, "I was wondering when my whore would arrive. I hope you're ready for one wild night 'cause I'm feeling a little needier than usual." His hands finally reached the figure's stomach. Arakawa pushed his hands violently toward the figures breasts but before he could reach his goal the figure's hand struck Arakawa with unbelievable speed and sent him to the ground.  
The figure spoke in a harsh voice that belonged to a women, "I don't like it when fat slobs like you try and cop a feel." The women removed a sword that was hidden by her cloak from it's sheath and raised it above her head, "Arakawa, it's time for you to die."  
Kenshin had seen enough. He would stop the women before any more blood was shed that night. "You should lower your sword that you should." Kenshin voice stopped the women. She turned to face the man who interrupted her. She had a lean build and was not very tall, a little shorted than Kenshin but she was very well developed as her curves could be seen even though she wore black pants from the west and a large hooded black cloak that covered her upper body and the hood hid her face from view. Arakawa ripped off the handkerchief, and stared wide eyed in surprise at the two strange sword carrying figures that were in his private room. "Who the hell are you two!?" He demanded but then he caught sight of the women's sword, which was dangerously close to slashing his throat, and shrunk away in terror.  
The women spoke to Kenshin, "so, it seems you're not working for this scum," she spit on Arakawa's face, "but that still makes me wonder what the hell you're doing here." Her voice contained a hint of danger and coldness but through all that Kenshin could hear the defiant swagger in her melodic voice.  
"I'm here to bring Arakawa to justice-"  
"Great!" She cut him off, "that makes two of us now if you'll excuse me," she said sarcastically and turned back to Arakawa with her sword millimeters from piercing the terrified man's chest.  
Kenshin charged at her and drew his sword. He swung at her deliberately slowly as a warning and as expected she dodged the attack with ease. She moved away from Kenshin who was standing over Arakawa. "I can't let you kill any more people. I will bring Arakawa to justice but not by spilling his blood." He took a step closer to her, "I will bring him to the police and let them deal justice accordingly."  
"Who the hell do you think you are?" She sounded slightly angry but her voice still held its melodic swagger.  
"My identity is of no importance to you," Kenshin wasn't going to reveal himself to a person who his her face behind a hood, his eyes harden and his voice took on a cold tone, "but I warned you, if you try to kill this man I will have to hurt you."  
The woman chuckled softly to herself, "you know if you had any sense you would let me kill this man or rid us of him yourself but prison is far too good for him. Besides if you do take him to the police they'll just sentence him to death. Why don't you do the kind thing and just put this that little scrounge out of his misery?" She advanced slowly towards Kenshin, "I really don't mind killing him myself."  
"I warned you," Kenshin prepared himself for a fight, "that if you try to kill him I'll have to fight you."  
"That's fine," she ran towards Kenshin, "I always love a good challenge!"  
'She's fast,' Kenshin thought, 'but she's still not fast enough.' Kenshin moved quickly towards her, his sakabatou was unsheathed and he was prepared to strike her down.  
The women laughed at Kenshin then suddenly disappeared in a blur or black. Kenshin stopped in his tracks. 'She's was just toying with me,' he thought angrily as he searched for her ki, 'I should have known that she was going to be fast.' He sensed that she reappeared behind him. He swung himself around. She was swaying in place still chuckling softly. "You underestimated me didn't you?" She prepared to attack, "you had better not make that same mistake again."  
Arakawa was crawling unsteadily away from the women. His entire body was shaking but he tried to remain slow for he feared that any jerky movement would turn her attention towards himself and he didn't want to taste her blade. He kept his eyes on her the whole time so consequently he didn't see the small table until he bumped into it making a tiny bit of noise but it was enough to get her attention. She vanished from Arakawa's sight so he scrambled to his feet in order to run to safety but she was already blocking his exit.  
"Where the hell do you think you're goin?" She moved towards him, her blade gleaming menacingly. Arakawa sealed his eyes shut and screamed for his life when she swung her sword at his neck but before the blade made contact with her wrinkled skin it was stop by Kenshin who intervened again.  
"That's enough of your interruptions!" She jumped back and charged again at Kenshin who met her sword with his own in a clash of steel. They continued to fight but neither of them was using all their strength and abilities, they were simply feeling out their opponent. They continued to throw attacks at each other and dodge every attack throw at them and occasionally their blades would meet momentarily and the sound of clashing steel would ring throughout the room before separating to continue the small struggle. It seemed they were evenly matched but Kenshin, as well as the women, still had many tricks that had yet been revealed. Arakawa, who was frozen in place during the majority of the battle, had now seemed to regain himself enough to try and escape. He was trembling toward the door and stumbling over his feet but the warriors were too engrossed in their battle to notice him.  
The two blades clashed against each other again but this time Kenshin's sword was in position so that if Kenshin pushed himself toward the woman she would be pushed closer to the floor or perhaps lose her balance so that he would have the upper hand and just maybe he would get a glimpse of her face.  
"You know," she said, "this was actually pretty fun and you're not such a bad fighter." She purposely allowed Kenshin to push her farther down while she positioned her leg so that she could easily pivot on it and get out of the way although he didn't seem to notice, "It's too bad that I have to end this so soon."  
Suddenly she slid her blade out from under his and, using the pre positioned pivot foot, moved herself out from under him and for a split second was standing right at his side. Kenshin had not been expecting this and, because of all the force he was pushing onto her, when she moved out of his way he had lost his balance and stumbled forward to where the woman used to be. The woman used her pivot foot and twirled around, her sword was soaring through the air. Kenshin's back was toward her now and she took advantage of the situation.  
In one quick movement her blade had sliced the flesh on Kenshin's back. Kenshin made a small inaudible grunt of pain when he felt the sword move across his back. He recovered his footing while one hand moved to his wound. He silently cursed himself for underestimating her a second time and falling straight into such an obvious trap. She turned to Arakawa, who had made it to the door and was nearly out of the room. "Did you really think that I'd let you off that easy?" She sprinted to Arakawa with Kenshin giving chase after recovering from his injury. She rushed to Arakawa with her blade unsheathed and awaiting the taste of Arakawa's blood. Kenshin didn't catch her in time. She passed him and nothing seemed to happen but when she turned around and flicked the blood off her blade Arakawa knew the truth. His fat hands moved to his chest but he didn't dare look down. He had already known what had happened. He coughed up blood and sputtered before his torso had finally slid off his lower body. The two halves fell to the floor.  
Kenshin stopped running after her and looked down at what was Arakawa. His mouth was still sputtering out small droplets of blood but his eyes rolled back into his head and the sputtering stopped. His bottom half, however, was still twitching. Kenshin looked up to face the women but all he saw was air. She had disappeared. She was no longer in the cellar and Kenshin walked out into the courtyard but she wasn't there either. She had gotten away. "Damn it!" Kenshin began to leave the courtyard. He approached the door but it had already slid open. Sano opened the door and looked down at an angry Kenshin, "hey I was looking all over for you." He was a little out of breath, "somebody went fucking crazy! There are dead bodies all over the mansion, blood and guts everywhere." He caught his breath and calmed down, "I didn't find who killed everybody and I didn't find Arakawa either." Sano looked past Kenshin and caught sight of the corpses in the courtyard. "Kenshin..." his voice was uncertain, "who killed all those people?"  
Kenshin heard a trace of doubt in Sano's voice. Did Sano think that Kenshin killed all these people? 'Nonsense!' Kenshin told himself, 'Sano trusts me. He knows that I would never take another life.' Kenshin reassured himself that he had Sano's trust for now and forever, but then why was Sano looking at him so strangely? "A swordswoman dressed in black killed them all." He walked inside the mansion, "I fought with her just a little while ago. She killed Arakawa then disappeared." Kenshin started towards the same door in which they had entered they mansion from. He looked back at Sano, his amber eyes glowing eerily in the night, "I think it's time we go back. Arakawa's dead so the mission is over." Kenshin said nothing more.  
Sano followed Kenshin out the mansion and through the forest towards Yamagata. His mind was swirling with unpleasant thoughts. 'A woman dressed in black killed everyone in the mansion. The story sounds a little stupid. Did Kenshin kill all those people?' Sano became furious with himself, 'what the fuck am I thinking!? Of Kenshin didn't kill those people! He even has a wound on his back that proves he got in a fight with somebody!' Sano was arguing with himself, 'but, maybe he gave himself that cut so it would just look like he was fighting with somebody. NO! Kenshin wouldn't kill another person. He made a vow and I know he'll uphold it!' Sano quickened his pace. He thought back to what Kenshin had said in the mansion. He looked back at Sano, his amber eyes glowing eerily in the night, "I think it's time we go back. Arakawa's dead so the mission is over." Something in Sano told him that at that exact moment Kenshin had never looked more like a murderer or someone capable of murder. Sano cursed himself again for doubting Kenshin and he forced himself to stop thinking about what happened at the mansion but his heart held a minuscule trace of doubt.  
Kenshin was also troubled by his thoughts. 'Who was that women? How did she know where Arakawa's mansion was? Was she working for one of his associates and was ordered to kill him. But it that's what happened why didn't she try to kill Sano or me?' his thoughts drifted to all the murdered men, to their disemboweled bodies and spilt blood. He thought of his fight with her and how they seemed evenly matched. His thoughts wandered to Sano, 'Sano looked at me like he actually thought that I killed everybody. Does he still trust me?' Kenshin saw the river and knew they were reaching the outskirts of Yamagata, 'Does Sano doubt that I'll never kill again? Do any of my other friends? For that matter...do I doubt myself?'  
  
The following morning the Kenshin-gumi, along with Saitoh and Hiko, sat around a very large table in a very popular beef bowl restaurant. They were waiting for Haruka and her apprentice to show up.  
"Hey Saitoh, when is Haruka supposed to be getting here?" Yahiko asked.  
"She should be here any minute now."  
"I doubt that," Hiko said, "you can't trust Haruka to be on time for anything."  
A taunting but soft feminine voice spoke from behind Hiko, "awwww...Hiko that's not very nice. You've hurt my feelings."  
Everyone looked up to see who the voice belonged to. A beautiful woman with long, sleek ginger hair and storming gray eyes smiled down at Hiko. She was as tall as Megumi and had a slender but muscular frame that was toned by a lifetime of martial arts but didn't take away from her natural curves. Her face was beautiful and held the touch of authority, wisdom and power that showed in her gray eyes but not in the humorous, vulgar aura she emitted. She was wearing an outfit that appeared to be made especially for her. It was dark blue and looked to be something a ninja would wear. It was light and made of durable cloth and was clearly made so that Haruka could fight in it but still be in public without arousing too much suspicion.  
"I'm on time now aren't I...or are you too drunk to know?" She said casually while she still smiled down at Hiko.  
Everyone at the table seemed to hold their breath, just waiting for Hiko to explode and yell at Haruka but, to their surprise, Hiko's smiled then replied, "I'm obviously not drunk enough if I can still see your ugly face."  
Haruka laughed and sat down next to Hiko. She noticed the surprised looks on everyone's faces and began to introduce herself. She introduced herself to Kenshin last, "You must be Kenshin Himura," she said, "Hiko's apprentice." Kenshin nodded his head. She continued, "you're very famous, Himura. Or are you still addressed as the Battousai?" It was a simple question and Haruka said it with no malice in her voice, just innocent curiosity but somehow the question still stung Kenshin.  
"No, I abandoned that name years ago and I don't plan on reclaiming it for myself." Haruka nodded politely, "and you should feel free to call me Kenshin."  
It was silent for a moment before Megumi asked, "Haruka, how exactly do you know Hiko?"  
Hiko answered, "Haruka and I were friends for a lon-"  
Haruka interrupted him, "actually what Hiko meant to say is that we were lovers but we broke it off because Hiko was angry that I was only using him for sex." Haruka grinned at Hiko, "He was pissed because I only wanted his body and nothing else so he said that if I didn't want his mind and his heart than I couldn't have him at all." Haruka patted Hiko on the back, "isn't that right baby?"  
There was another long silence while Haruka waited fro Hiko to reply. "You stupid bitch," he said while he chuckled softly and poured two cups of sake, "you haven't changed at all." He handed Haruka a cup.  
She laughed a little, "neither have you." She tapped his cup against his, "cheers." They both took a long drink from their cups.  
"Hey Haruka," Sano said, "if you've known Hiko for so long then how old are you?"  
"You know that it's not polite to ask a woman her age." She poured herself another cup.  
"That's because even though he looks like a rooster," Megumi said, "he's actually a pig."  
"She's 44." Hiko said loudly which earned him a long hard look from Haruka.  
"You're such an asshole you..." Haruka searched for something to say, "you old...fart." She took another drink while Hiko looked at her with amusement and...love?  
Yahiko's mouth dropped, "you're 44!? You don't look like you're older than 20!"  
Haruka flashed Yahiko a smile as a way to say thanks for the compliment and nodded, "yeah but just like Hiko and Kenshin, I look a lot younger than I actually am." She stretched her arms, "so how did the mission go last night?"  
Saitoh cast a glance in Kenshin's direction who seemed a little uncomfortable. Kenshin had told everyone what had happened at the mansion and they all believed the story without hesitation but Saitoh didn't. He remembered asking Kenshin it he would break his vow never to kill even if he was getting revenge for the woman he loved and Saitoh loved the fact that Kenshin couldn't answer the question. Right then Saitoh already had a suspicion that Kenshin may kill again and when Kenshin told everyone what happened on the mission and all the dead bodies Saitoh's suspicion was only strengthen by the small traces on uncertainty in Sano's eyes.  
Kenshin spoke up, "pretty bad. When we got there almost everybody had been slaughtered. Arakawa was killed also by some strange women but I didn't get a chance to see who she was."  
Haruka looked very thoughtful for a brief moment as if she knew something that no one else knew but she quickly covered up her shock so no one would notice. "So Haruka," Hiko asked, "where is this apprentice of yours?"  
"She'll be here soon."  
"She better be. I want to finally meet the person who survived your training."  
"What?" Yahiko inquired, "what do you mean survived?"  
Haruka thought for a moment than answered, "the training for this particular style is so intense that many of the people who want to become the master don't actually survive."  
"Could you be a little less vague? What's so tough about it?"  
Haruka took a deep breath and prepared to start but she suddenly jerked her head to the restaurant entrance. Yahiko noticed that Hiko, Kenshin and Saitoh had all done the same. 'They must sense something,' Yahiko thought.  
Four men dressed in blood red identical uniforms entered the restaurant and spread apart in specific locations. One man nodded his head and they all pulled out black-market colt revolvers that were hidden by their clothing. Screams erupted from the restaurant patrons and workers. Each man pulled the nearest woman or child to them and used their hostage as a shied against any attacks they might receive. Each hostage had a gun pressed against their temple.  
"Everybody shut the hell up and don't move!" one of the men yelled.  
"Yeah," another added, "or we'll start blowing people's brains out!"  
The hostages were whimpering quietly for they feared that the men would live up to their threat and shoot them and they really didn't want their brains to be sprayed across the walls.  
One thief held a waitress as a hostage. "All right sweetheart," he spoke to the waitress, "you're gonna be a good little girl and show me where all the money is kept in this place or I'll just have to find someone who's more willing to cooperate. Do you understand?"  
The girl nodded her head rapidly and led the man to the back of the restaurant where only employees were allowed. They passed through a door and disappeared.  
Two of the three remaining men threw their hostages to the ground and walked to each customer to sort through their belongings to take whatever they wanted.  
The third man yelled to the customers, "Listen up! When one of my associates comes to you you're expected to donate any money and valuable belongings to them immediately. If anyone causes any problems or fails to make a donation that person will be shot." He calmly pointed his gun at some of the terrified customers, "so, I trust there won't be any problems."  
  
Kenshin and the other's moved to stand up and rid themselves of the thieves but Haruka put her arm in front of them to stop them. "Stay," she said calmly, "we don't want to risk any innocent lives...besides," she nodded her head towards the entrance, "my apprentice is here." She turned to Hiko, "you can see her fight."  
Kenshin could sense a strong ki outside the restaurant. The ki was familiar...strangely familiar. Kenshin looked at Haruka who kept a calm demeanor on her face even though the thieves were going to each customer and stripping them of any thing valuable. Then he looked at Hiko and decided that he would do as Haruka instructed. Hiko calmly sipped his sake. He trusted Haruka's judgment so if she said that they should stay still and sit down than he would. He would do anything for Haruka.  
A slim figure entered the restaurant and stumbled around as if she were drunk. Kenshin recognized her immediately. He recognized the strong taunting ki, the black western pants, the black cloak and the hood that covered her face. 'It's her! The woman from last night is Haruka's apprentice!?' Kenshin leaned towards Sano, "Sano, it's the woman from the mansion." He whispered urgently, "the woman I told you about, the woman who killed all those men." Shock was plastered on both Sano's and Kenshin's face.  
Haruka spoke softly, "just watch. She'll take of this."  
The woman was still stumbling around as if she had too much to drink and was liable to pass out at any minute. The thieves were surprised by the intrusion and by the fact that the woman didn't seem to notice that they were robbing the restaurant.  
One of the thieves stopped looting the customers and approached the women with his gun held out. "Hey you," he yelled, "what the fuck do you think you're doing? Get down on the ground right fucking now!" The woman swayed unsteadily on her feet but mad no indications that she was going to follow the man's orders or if she had even heard what he had said.  
"Hey bitch," the thief lowered his gun and roughly grabbed her wrist and jerked the woman towards him, "I said get the fuck on the ground!" She allowed him to force her towards the ground a little, "get on the ground and cough up all your valuables or I'll have to blow your fucking head off!" The women shook a little and the thief noticed this. "I see that you're so scared by me that you're shaking!" He was very pleased by that thought fore it stroked his vanity.  
The woman spoke in the taunting, melodic voice laced with swagger that Kenshin recognized from the night before, "I'm not shaking because I'm scared of you, you stupid dipshit," the man recoiled in shock, "I'm shaking because I'm trying to stop myself from laughing."  
In one fluid movement she had broken free of the man's grip and snapped his arm in half by shoving upward on his elbow. Then she seemed to disappear. She reappeared when she kneed the thief in the back of the head and landed gracefully while the man flew violently to the ground. He was completely knocked out but his body shook slightly. The other two thieves were completely frozen. They clearly didn't expect anything like this. Finally one of the thieves recovered and swung his gun in her direction. He took aim and fired several times but by the time he pulled back on the trigger the woman disappeared again. The thief wildly swung his gun around, desperately searching for her. He heard a chuckle from behind him. He slowly turned around to see that the woman had unsheathed a sword and was twirling it with her hand.  
"Is that the best you can do even with a gun?" She stopped twirling the sword and gripped it tightly in her hand, "that's really pathetic." She charged and before the man could fire she struck him down with her blade.  
Several of the customers screamed. They expected to see blood gushing from the thief but to everyone's surprise the thief was only unconscious and not dead. Kenshin knew why that was. He saw that in the second before her sword made contact she had switched it around so she would hit the thief with the dull side. When she placed her sword in its sheath Kenshin realized that she wasn't aiming to kill.  
The third thief was shaking and pulled his hostage closer to him. "If you take one step I'll fucking shoot this lady!" She took a step closer to him. "I swear I'll kill her!"  
She took another step while one of her hands slid up the sleeve of her cloak and slowly pulled out a throwing knife that was hidden from the thief's view, "listen if you kill her then you wont have a hostage and I'll just kill you but if you let her go I might consider letting you live." She came closer.  
The man thought about what she said and made his decision. He whipped his gun around and fired at the woman but she avoided getting hit. She leaped to one side of the room so that she was out of the line of fire and threw the knife with stunning accuracy. It entered the man's hand and he shrieked with agony and dropped his gun. The hostage saw her chance and broke free of his grip and ran away from the thief. The knife had gone completely through his hand and he gingerly cradled his hand. Tears of pain, fear and humiliation streamed down his face. He sobbed and turned to see where the woman was. She was approaching him. He turned and tried to run out of the restaurant. He was desperate to escape the woman who had easily defeated his other two comrades but he wasn't fast enough. Using speed that may have surpassed Kenshin, she ran in front of the terrified thief and blocked his means of escape.  
"Please don't kill me," he begged in between whimpers, "please I'm begging you..."  
She scoffed but she chose to let him live. She punched him hard in the stomach. He coughed up a little flem and fell to the floor. She nudged him with her foot, "out cold" she mumbled. "We'll this was awfully boring." The restaurant patrons were still reeling form shock and remained silent. She approached one of the unconscious men and picked up one of the revolvers, "Hey Haruka," she said while her back was towards Kenshin, "check out this gun. I bet it was worth an assload of money on the black market." She toyed with a little.  
"It probably was." Haruka replied. The door from the back of the restaurant opened and the fourth thief reappeared with his hostage and a large sack of money. He was so happy with the money that he failed to notice what had happened to his partners. "Hey guys, what the fuck is going on? I thought I heard gunshots but you won't believe how much money they-" He looked up to see that all his comrades were strewn across the floor unconscious. "What the fuck?" He asked softly. He finally noticed the women that was holding one of his comrade's revolvers. He knew instinctively that this woman was the enemy.  
He pressed the revolver against his hostage's temple. "All right, I don't know what the fuck is going on here but if you don't drop that gun and let me go I'm gonna blow this bitch away." Cold sweat rolled down his face but his voice was manic and desperate.  
The woman remained still for a moment, 'this guy is really desperate. He probably will kill that lady.' Then she knew what she was going to do, 'he probably will kill that woman if he thinks that I care if she lives or dies.'  
The woman raised the gun and pointed it at the thief. "I really don't give a shit if you kill her or not. It's not my problem so shoot her if you want to but I'm not going to let you get out of here." She took aim for his shoulder, "not while I'm still here."  
Second passed. The thief was in deep thought about his next move. While he was thinking he took his eyes off the women for a split second. The woman saw this, 'very big mistake,' she thought. A gun shot echoed through the silent restaurant and the thief dropped his gun and hostage so he could clutch the newly formed bullet wound in his shoulder.  
The woman also dropped her smoking gun to the ground and charged the wounded man. She quickly gave him a hard uppercut that sent him soaring through the air and before he could touch the ground she kicked him square in the chest and he crashed through the door and didn't get back up.  
The restaurant erupted in cheers. They had been saved by the cloaked woman who was approaching Kenshin and his companions.  
"Hey Haruka," she said, "that was pretty cool huh?"  
"No, but at least you didn't kill anyone. By the way, did you realize that you're late," Haruka said in parental tone.  
"Come Haruka," she replied childishly, "I had a busy night so don't get bitchy or nothin."  
Kenshin watched them talk but he didn't really hear any of the words. His mind was filled with thoughts, 'this was the woman that slaughtered all those men last night, but she just saved the people in this restaurant and she's Haruka's apprentice. Does she remember me from last night?' Kenshin noticed that her face was still hidden by her hood, 'why doesn't she take off that hood? What the hell does she look like?'  
"Everyone," Haruka said, "this is my apprentice." The woman flipped the hood off her head with a quick nod of her head. Her face was exposed.  
Kenshin, Yahiko, Sano and Megumi were all drained of color. They all breathed in sharply and were unable to breathe out. They recognized the dark raven hair, the lovely blue eyes, the young energetic face and Yahiko noticed the horizontal scar under her right eye that was created a wound inflicted nearly three years ago. They were staring at a person they thought they would never see again but here she was, standing in front if them.  
Kenshin stared at the familiar face. He could never forget that face. The face of the women he loved and lost three years ago. "K-Kaoru." He breathed, "it's you." The women looked at each of them. They all stared at her as if they recognized her but she only recognized the red headed man from last night. The woman noticed that the young man with spiky dark hair was trembling and was nearly in tears, as was the rooster man and the fox lady but the man with the red hair and crossed shaped scar looked at her with disbelief, sadness and love. 'Why are they looking at me like that?' Suddenly a glimmer of hope flashed through her mind, 'maybe they knew me before I lost my memories. Maybe they know what happened to me three years ago.' She thought about it but dismissed it. 'Haruka found me in a river covered with injuries and nearly dead...so I guess I really don't want to remember what happened.' She had given up all hope of discovering what her past life was and decided that she didn't want to know. If she was in a river covered in blood and wounds and almost completely dead then she decided that her past life wasn't worth recovering.  
"No, my name is Leiko and you are...?"  
  
Author's notes:  
Sorry for not updating quicker but I've been busy. PLEASE HELP!!! I'm having serious writer's block and need suggestions on where to take the story. HELP! Thanks for reading this really long crappy chapter. 


	7. my past?

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin now or ever, but the story is mine.  
  
Author's notes: Listen everyone, I'm really sorry that I haven't updated but I had to move over two times in the last couple of months and my new living arrangement won't allow me much time on the computer to update my story. Sorry, but I did get over my writers block thanks to one person who gave me plenty of good ideas. R&R Creative suggestions are wanted and all criticism is accepted. "Speech" 'thoughts'  
  
Last Chapter: "Everyone," Haruka said, "this is my apprentice." The woman flipped the hood off her head with a quick nod of her head. Her face was exposed.  
  
Kenshin, Yahiko, Sano and Megumi were all drained of color. They all breathed in sharply and were unable to breathe out. They recognized the dark raven hair, the lovely blue eyes, the young energetic face and Yahiko noticed the horizontal scar under her right eye that was created a wound inflicted nearly three years ago. They were staring at a person they thought they would never see again but here she was, standing in front if them.  
  
Kenshin stared at the familiar face. He could never forget that face. The face of the women he loved and lost three years ago. "K-Kaoru." He breathed, "It's you." The women looked at each of them. They all stared at her as if they recognized her but she only recognized the red headed man from last night. The woman noticed that the young man with spiky dark hair was trembling and was nearly in tears, as was the rooster man and the fox lady but the man with the red hair and crossed shaped scar looked at her with disbelief, sadness and love. 'Why are they looking at me like that?' Suddenly a glimmer of hope flashed through her mind, 'maybe they knew me before I lost my memories. Maybe they know what happened to me three years ago.' She thought about it but dismissed it. 'Haruka found me in a river covered with injuries and nearly dead...so I guess I really don't want to remember what happened.' She had given up all hope of discovering what her past life was and decided that she didn't want to know. If she was in a river covered in blood and wounds and almost completely dead then she decided that her past life wasn't worth recovering.  
  
"No, my name is Leiko and you are...?"  
  
Chapter 6: My past? No, my name is Leiko and you are...? Those simple words rang through Kenshin's ears creating an unbearable echo. No, my name is Leiko and you are...? Those simple words were the reason for shocked and pained faces that had settled on the faces of Kaoru's lost family. No, my name is Leiko and you are...? Those simple words had managed to crush Kenshin's hope and heart. No, my name is Leiko and you are...? 'How could she not remember me? How could she forget me...how?' Kenshin's thoughts were full of despair, 'she forgot me but how? How?' Silence had settled over the table as Leiko impatiently waited for an answer. Her foot was tapping in anticipation as she examined the faces at the table, faces struck with shock and recognition. 'They look like they've seen a damn ghost or something...wait a minute... they knew me didn't they, but how? Were they involved with my past? Did they know me?' For the first time in three years Leiko felt a twinge of hope. 'They knew me! They must know who I am!' However, Leiko quickly dismissed that hope, that desire for a past. 'But...I was found nearly dead in a damn river. These people were probably the reason I was found like that! This stupid red head and that rooster, I saw them last night. They have strong ki's...they were probably trying to kill me last night!!' Her hand flew to the hilt of her sword, 'they're probably the reason why I almost died three years ago. They must've tried to kill me, and last night at the mansion...they were probably there to finish the job! I can't believe I spared that red head. His ki is the ki of a murderer and I let him live!! How could I be so stupid?!' Angry thoughts swirled through her head. "Hey you!" she yelled. Kenshin broke out of his trance, "Answer my damn question. Who the hell are you!?" "Don't...don't you recognize me, Kaoru?" 'Please recognize me. Please remember who I am. Please remember who you are. Please remember...'  
"Don't call me Kaoru! I told you my name is Leiko now who the hell are you!?" Her hand was shaking on the hilt of her sword. Her arm was tense, just waiting for a reason to yank out the sword and decapitate this aggravating red head. Leiko didn't know why she wasn't fighting them already. Her sword always spoke for her and at the moment it wanted to insure that this red head would never be able to call her Kaoru again...but something, some minuscule tug at in heart stopped her.  
"Kaoru...it's me, Kenshin. Please, tell me you recognize me."  
Leiko stared at him for a moment, and some part of her wanted to recognize him...but she dismissed it. "I told you, don't...call...me...Kaoru." She unsheathed a small part of her sword, "I have no fucking clue who you are but I know you know me...you're the reason I nearly died three years ago, aren't you!?"  
Kenshin's eyes filled with guilt and Leiko saw this. 'Yes, I am the reason she nearly died. I should have been there to protect her. It was my fault...it's my fault...' "I am to blame-"  
"I knew it!" More of her sword unsheathed, "I can feel it! You the one! You tried to kill me three years, didn't you!?" She shook with anger, 'this man is the reason that I have no past. He'll pay for what he did to me!'  
"What? No, I would never hurt you! I'd die before I'd even think about hurting you!"  
Leiko hesitated. She stared into his eyes. They were filled with such love and devotion that she couldn't bring herself to attack him, at least not while they were still in the restaurant. The man's violet eyes pleaded with her to believe him so, for the time being, she would.  
Haruka exchanged a puzzled glance with Hiko. It was clear to her that the past of her apprentice was somehow intertwined with these strangers. She knew that Leiko would let her emotions run amok and would use her sword instead of her words and Haruka wouldn't let that happen. "Perhaps we should continue this conversation outside" she began to usher everyone outside, "where there are no innocent bystanders." She added under her breath.  
When everyone was outside Haruka began, "What's going on?"  
'What's going on?' Everyone thought in perfect unison, 'where the hell do we start!'  
"Well," said Leiko, "I think it's pretty fuckin' obvious what's happening!" She pointed an accusing finger at Kenshin, "he's the reason I have no past!"  
"Leiko, calm down. Before you throw around accusations why don't we listen to their side of the story, okay?" Haruka turned to Kenshin, "why don't you tell us who you are?"  
"..."  
"Well...?"  
Kenshin couldn't bring himself to speak. 'What do I say? What can I say?'  
"Kaoru...we're your friends." Sano said, "It's me, Sanosuke. I was your friend. More like your older brother..."  
"I'm Megumi. We we're friends too, although it was a bit rocky..." she smiled sadly and chuckled softly when she remembered all the times she teased Kaoru. It was all in the spirit of fun but seeing Kaoru's current condition she couldn't help but wish that she were nicer. 'Maybe if I had been nicer she would be able to remember us...maybe...'  
Yahiko stepped forward. His eyes were glazed with unshed tears as he stared directly into the cold eyes of his sensei. The last time he saw her he was only a child but now he was a young man, a young man who felt afraid of this new woman, this Leiko. "I'm Yahiko...I was one of your students, well actually, I was pretty much your only student...you were teaching me the sword style Kamiya Kasshin Ryu." Haruka's eyes went wide. "The sword that protects...I actually met you when you were trying to protect me...don't you remember?"  
Leiko scoffed, 'pathetic sob stories. That's all these people are trying to feed me, pathetic sob stories. But I'm not gonna fall for it.' "No, I don't remember and you know why? 'Cause everything you people are saying is just a load of crap and I don't believe you one fucking bit."  
Haruka touched Leiko's shoulder. "They might be telling the truth."  
"Come on Haruka! You can't tell me you actually believe this crap!?"  
Haruka gestured to Yahiko. "This young man said that you were teaching him a sword style. If that's true then wouldn't that explain how you already knew how to use a sword when we started your training?"  
"..."  
"Why don't you just hear them out?"  
"...fine."  
Haruka faced Hiko, "Leiko, this is Hiko, the man I already told you about and you must be the police officer Saitoh. Correct?" Saitoh nodded and lit a cigarette.  
"Great..." Leiko mumbled sarcastically, "Because a cop is what we really need."  
Finally Haruka turned to a silent Kenshin. His head was hung low and his bangs covered his eyes. "And you're Hiko's apprentice, right?"  
Kenshin walked toward Leiko and lifted his head. "I'm Kenshin Himura." He said to Leiko, "and you are Kaoru Kamiya." He reached out and took Leiko's hand into his own, "you have to remember..."  
Leiko's eyes widened and her body went slightly rigid as she thrust into her memories...  
  
Fireflies flew around Kaoru as she watched the man she loved turn his back on her and retreat into the darkness. She collapsed into a heap on the cold ground. Unable to stand, unable to go after the one she loved. She sobbed uncontrollably as the grief overwhelmed her...  
  
Kaoru watched in horror as Kenshin and Saitoh fought each in the Kamiya dojo, their amber eyes glowing with bloodlust...their blood dropping to the ground...their swords clashing. Kaoru was helpless. She couldn't stop them and neither could Megumi, Sano or Yahiko. They were fighting to the death and all she could do was watch and pray for Kenshin's safety. She dropped to her knees and wept as Kenshin fought on...  
  
The river rushed behind her as Kaoru stood in front of Kenshin. She removed her favorite ribbon and gave it to Kenshin. He accepted but suddenly, strong arms grabbed her from behind and pulled her off the riverbank into a small raft. She screamed his name but all he could do was watch...  
  
Clutching her sword in one hand, Kaoru shoved Yahiko with her good shoulder. He fell out the window and into the river below. She turned around as the Leader ran towards her, his sword raised above his head. She unsheathed her sword and thrust it forward, her eyes clasped shut. She waited for his blade to make contact, she waited for death to come and claim her...but nothing happened. She opened her eyes to see the Leader impaled on the other end of her sword. Shock written on his face. He smiled with disbelief...and pleasure. The pleasure of knowing that even though he would die the explosion would claim Kaoru's life too. "You stupid bitch..." He fell forward, pushing the blade completely though his body until his weight was now pushing Kaoru to the window. Kaoru couldn't hold the dead weight. She staggered backward until she tripped and the two bodies came tumbling out of the window. The inn was suddenly ignited in flames. The explosion sent debris flying in every direction. Pieces of flaming wood flew into the dead body of the leader as the fell to the river. A large object stuck the side of Kaoru's head. She crashed into the freezing river but darkness had already claimed her...  
  
A voice shook Leiko out of Kaoru's memories. "Kaoru! Kaoru, what's wrong? Kaoru speak to me! Please!" Leiko stared into the concerned face of Kenshin. Her tore her hand out of Kenshin's. "Kaoru...are you okay? What happened?"  
Leiko began to shake with anger. 'This man...all he ever brought me was pain.' She thought as she remembered her flashbacks. 'I don't care! I don't care about my past! I don't care who the hell these people are! I refuse to remember.'  
"Kaoru, are you okay?"  
Leiko stuck Kenshin hard across the face. He recoiled in shock. "I told you to never call me Kaoru! I don't know who the hell that is and I don't care!"  
"Kaoru, please-"  
"NO! I won't listen to any of your crap!" Leiko felt tears roll down her face, but she wasn't crying. "I don't know who Kaoru is, I don't know who you are but I do know that I don't care! I...am... Leiko!" Leiko couldn't bear it anymore. She turned around and ran. Within a few seconds she was completely out of sight.  
"Kaoru..."  
Saitoh broke the silence that surrounded the group. "Listen. We all came here because we have a job to do. This is no time for sappy reunions. Now if no one minds, I'd like to get down to business. Haruka, is Leiko going to join us or not?"  
"Yeah...yeah, she'll help. But we'll start tomorrow. Does everyone agree?"  
A few mumbles were heard but that was good enough. Haruka exchanged a glance with Hiko. "We're gonna leave you guys alone for now." She placed a comforting hard on Kenshin's shoulder. "Leiko will be fine. She can take care of herself. Just give her time and hopefully she'll remember." Haruka could think of nothing else to say. Hiko and Haruka left the rest of the group to themselves.  
Saitoh snorted, "Well, this is stupid. You all should just get over it. Quit wallowing in your grief, it might interfere with our mission." He walked away. When he was far enough he took one last glance at the sorrow stricken group. He wouldn't even admit it to himself but he felt a small twinge of compassion for the group. He couldn't imagine how they felt but he knew that if he ever lost his wife they way they lost Kaoru...he wouldn't even think about it.  
Yahiko spoke with a cracked voice. "What are we gonna do now?"  
"We are going to do exactly what Haruka said." Megumi said, "We'll give her time. That's all we really can do." Sano and Yahiko nodded in agreement. "Why don't we all go back to the inn and call it a day?" Megumi and Yahiko started to leave but hung back for Sano.  
"Hey Kenshin, are you coming?" He said.  
"..." Kenshin dropped his head.  
Megumi walked to Sano and gently tugged him away. "Give him time." She whispered. They left Kenshin with his thoughts. He needed to sort out his thoughts and they needed to do the same.  
'Was that Leiko or was that Kaoru?' He thought about this until he decided it was time to go back to the inn. Kenshin stayed in the same spot until the sun had set.  
  
Author's notes: Sorry for the short chapter but I just don't have the time or the opportunity to work on my story so from now on all my chapters are going to be about this long. Next chapter I'll hope to explain Leiko's training and fighting style and what the first mission is. R&R. 


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